A Trump bargain: Pardon Netanyahu in exchange for Israel-Syria security deal?
President Trump is less concerned with the outcome of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s graft trial than with pressuring him to finalize a security deal with Syria.
TEL AVIV — By expressing support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request for a pardon in his graft trial, US President Donald Trump is simultaneously seeking Israel's agreement to scale back its attacks on Syrian territory and to commit to pursuing a security arrangement with Damascus.
Trump's Truth Social post on Monday, in which he urged Israel to refrain from interfering in Syria, underscored the complicated relationship between the two leaders. Referring to the deadly Israeli strike last week in the village of Beit Jinn, Trump called on Israel to maintain "a strong and true dialogue" with Syria. He also praised what he described as growing cooperation between Washington and Damascus and the efforts made by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to rebuild the country.
The warning from Trump came Monday, just as US envoy Tom Barrack visited Syria and met with Sharaa.
Shortly after the post, Netanyahu's office announced that he had been invited to meet with Trump at the White House in the "near future."
