Rabbi Yosef Hamra, the brother of the last chief rabbi of Syria, who now lives in Brooklyn, was invited to offer a blessing to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa during a meeting between al-Sharaa and a variety of Syrian diaspora activists in Washington on Sunday.

The moment produced a striking visual — a handshake between a kippah-wearing rabbi and the new president of Syria, a former Islamist terrorist affiliated with Al-Qaida and ISIS.

“Syrian Jews coming up and sitting down with the president — this is really history,” Henry Hamra, who leads the Jewish Heritage in Syria Foundation with his father, told Jewish Insider. “A lot of people from over here, from our community, were very, very emotional about it. It’s a beautiful thing, and my father was so touched and it was a great moment.”

Hamra said that al-Sharaa had thanked his father for the blessing and said that he would “love to see you again in Syria. And I think it’s happening very soon.”

He said that al-Sharaa had also, during the meeting, expressed a commitment to religious inclusion and pluralism.

“The Jewish community in Syria is exactly the same thing as every community,” Hamra said. “That’s what the president said — there’s no difference between the Syrian Jewish and the Syrian Christian and the Syrian Muslim. We’re all in this together … that’s what he was emphasizing also. And he spoke about all the religions — that everything is the same, the Kurds, the Alawites, everybody is the same.”

Forces aligned with al-Sharaa’s government have carried out massacres targeting the Alawite, Druze and other minority communities.

“We should get ourselves together and try to rebuild again [in] Syria,” Hamra said.

He said the members of Jewish Heritage in Syria also had the opportunity to discuss with both Syrian leaders and U.S. Syria envoy Tom Barrack the work they are doing to support sanctions relief and restore Jewish antiquities and religious sites in Syria. The Jewish group was invited to the meeting by the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

Hamra said that he had invited Barrack to tour Jewish sites in Syria, and Barrack expressed an interest, sharing his personal phone number with Hamra.

“I think the government [is] very, very open for us to start the process of building up, and that’s a great thing,” Hamra said.

Mouaz Moustafa, a Syrian-American activist who leads the Syrian Emergency Task Force, which has been working with JHS in advocating for the repeal of sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Act, said it was “inspirational” and moving to see the meeting between al-Sharaa and Rabbi Hamra.

Henry Hamra, who fled Syria in 1992 at age 15, also recently ran for the Syrian parliament on a platform focused on advocating for sanctions relief, though he was not successful.

Hamra reiterated to JI his desire to see the repeal of the Caesar Act sanctions.

“My goal is to help the Syrian people who suffered a lot, and I think they should have another chance to live in freedom again,” he said. Moustafa, Hamra and Hamra’s father have argued that any restoration work on Syria’s ancient synagogues will be impossible until all sanctions are lifted.

Opponents of the sanctions relief effort say that keeping the sanctions in place is necessary to maintain U.S. leverage and ensure accountability on American priorities like protecting minority groups from further attacks.

At the White House on Monday, as President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, two other high-level figures were in attendance — Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, underscoring how Syria has become a new battleground for regional influence. 

Following the fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime last December, the war-ravaged nation has become a political vacuum, transformed into a critical security frontier for many regional players — most notably Turkey and Saudi Arabia. 

“Saudi Arabia and Turkey are among the most powerful Middle Eastern countries. The power vacuum caused by the Syrian civil war turned Syria into a stage for these competing powers,” said David May, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Both countries supported elements working to topple former Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad.”

Despite both countries supporting the overthrow of the Assad regime, the nations share different visions for the future government in Damascus. Saudi Arabia and other moderate Arab countries are seeking to guide Syria towards pragmatic governance and away from the influence of radical Islam — a stark contrast to the propping up of the Muslim Brotherhood by Turkey, according to May. 

“Saudi Arabia and Turkey have radically different foreign policy objectives and trajectories, especially as it relates to political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood,” said May. “Historically, Turkey and Saudi Arabia each have a claim to the leadership of Islam and the Middle East …. [Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman has tried to modernize the kingdom and has downplayed the fundamentalism that used to be central to the state. Turkey, meanwhile, used to be a modernizing force in the region, but President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan has elevated the role political Islam and Muslim Brotherhood ideology play in the orientation of the state.”

Saudi Arabia emerged quickly as a key backer of al-Sharaa’s regime due to the Syrian leader’s apparent moderation from his fundamentalist background. 

“When al-Sharaa took Damascus, Saudi Arabia rushed to lobby Washington to press the reset button on al-Sharaa and legitimize his rule in Syria,” Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Jewish Insider. 

Abdul-Hussain has argued that Turkey is not looking to help rebuild a sovereign Syrian state but rather is seeking a “puppet-state” in Damascus, also noting that Ankara supports factions influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood and an alternative Sunni leadership model, which is opposed by Saudi Arabia. 

Pro-Israel lawmakers in Congress also expressed wariness towards Turkey’s expanding role in the region. “President Erdogan has a long record of hostility toward Israel, Greece, and Cyprus and his government maintains ties to Hamas terrorists, making Turkey an unreliable partner in ensuring peace. That’s why I remain deeply skeptical of Turkey’s intentions and potential role in Syria’s stabilization,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) told Jewish Insider. 

Other analysts argued that Turkey is seeking a more productive role. Soner Cagaptay, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Turkey is actually “the most important stakeholder” in Syria, adding that the Trump administration views Ankara as a critical part of ensuring Syria’s stabilization. 

“Trump wants to see Syria not fall into another cycle of civil war, and he believes that Turkey is a key actor to Syria’s stabilization,” said Cagaptay. “I think Turkey has the institutions to bring to the table to help with capacity building and Syria’s restoration of serious institutions.”

Cagaptay says a stabilized Syria is in Turkey’s best interest, and that al-Sharaa will rely on help from Ankara. 

“100 years after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Syria has been Turkey’s most problematic neighbor. Turkey now wants to flip that into an ally,” said Cagaptay. “[Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham] and al-Sharaa need Turkey, and they will play along. They will lead Turkey to legitimacy and recognition.”

After meeting with Trump, al-Sharaa held a meeting with Fidan, along with Syria’s foreign minister and U.N. envoy. Fidan also met at the White House with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. 

“This visit here by al-Sharaa, in which he was accompanied by Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan, kind of underlines Turkey’s significantly elevated role in Syria and a very important shift,” said Cagaptay. “Syria was Turkey’s most problematic neighbor and now has become a strong ally and a country that Turkey is deeply invested in and cares for.” 

However, Israel views an elevated Turkish role in Syria with “some anxiety,” according to Cagaptay, unlike with Riyadh. 

“Israel and Saudi Arabia are not competing in Syria. Turkey is competing with the two. This suggests that Israel and Saudi Arabia can be allies in Syria, and both — together or independently — will be Turkey’s rival,” said Abdul-Hussain. “Al-Sharaa will have to navigate this dynamic to survive, beat domestic rivals, and emerge as Syria’s sole and strong ruler.”

Senators offered a positive readout from a dinner meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Sunday evening prior to al-Sharaa’s Monday summit at the White House with President Donald Trump.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) told Jewish Insider that al-Sharaa was “very charismatic” and “had a very open conversation” about his “checkered past” with senators. “I found it to be straightforward. I thought his answers were what we needed to hear, but I think he honestly believed it too,” Mullin said of the dinner. 

“I was with him in Damascus in August. I led the first delegation there with [Rep.] Jason Smith (R-MO), [Rep.] Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and [Sen.] Joni Ernst (R-IA). This was kind of more of the same, just building on that,” Mullin told JI. “When we talked in August, there were some issues that he brought up with sanctions towards the Assad regime that we need to work on. I’ve already been working on that, so we wanted to give him an update on it.”

The Oklahoma Republican said progress was being made on lifting the sanctions, something he attributed to the fact that the U.S. wants the al-Sharaa regime to “be successful.”

“He may not fit the mold of what you’d want as a leader in Syria. Actually, if you look at it, he’s probably what needs to be in Syria right now, because they’ve been at war for so long,” Mullin said. “As I told him, it’s trust — but verify. And so far, he’s making all the right moves. He’s trying to actually formalize relationships with Israel, that’s huge for that region. So, as he continues to move down this path, we want to continue to help him be successful.”

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) told JI that, as a longtime Middle East and counterterrorism official, “it was quite a change to be sitting across the table from someone a decade ago I may have looked at in a very different light. But he was very impressive.”

She said that Michigan has a large Syrian-American community that supports efforts to lift sanctions and reopen Syria to the world, “so it was actually in some parts, even quite moving.” Slotkin said she also supports lifting sanctions to “do what I can to give them a shot,” and added that she wants to visit Syria.

“There were a number of people at the dinner, Democrats and Republicans, who have former service in the global war on terror,” Slotkin continued. “There was something really almost emotional about sitting across the table from someone who years ago would have been an adversary who now seems like he’s trying to really make Syria work. It was quite moving.”

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) echoed his colleagues’ comments about wanting to see al-Sharaa be successful in ushering Syria into a peaceful era.

“We need Syria to succeed. We want Syria to succeed. Peace between Syria and Israel is absolutely essential. Respect and support for the Syrian Democratic Forces is essential,” Coons told JI, referring to the Kurdish-led group that has been a key U.S. ally inside Syria.

The Delaware senator said that the Sunday evening discussion “was broadly a constructive conversation. For some of the members who were present, it was their first time meeting him. For most of us, it was our second or third conversation with him.”

“Having a pathway towards repealing the state sponsor of terrorism designation and repealing or downgrading the Caesar sanctions were key asks of his, and I believe the NDAA has a Risch-Shaheen provision that repeals the Caesar sanctions,” Coons added. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called the meeting “encouraging and positive.”

“I think that the relationship with Israel is still challenging,” Blumenthal told JI. “I asked him very specifically about it, but on the whole, I think it’s a new chapter for the region that could be extremely promising.”

Ernst, who also attended the dinner, described it in a statement as “frank and constructive,” praising Trump for engaging with al-Sharaa.

“Today’s visit is an important step toward building trust, fostering dialogue, and uniting Syria’s diverse ethnic and religious communities,” Ernst said. “Under President Trump’s leadership, there is a real opportunity to advance peace in the Middle East and make the vision of a more stable and prosperous world a reality.”

Other lawmakers who attended the dinner were Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Marlin Stutzman (R-TN), Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ). Mast, according to Politico, was not planning to attend the meeting but happened to be at the same hotel where the meeting was occurring and was asked to join.

He offered a more tepid readout than many of the other attendees.

When Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa visits the White House on Monday, he will be the first Syrian head of state to do so, a long-anticipated meeting that could advance U.S. efforts to broker a potential security agreement between Syria and Israel. 

The U.S. has worked on mediating a security deal between the two nations this year following the fall of the Iran-aligned Assad regime and Israel’s decisive military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon, something that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said made the talks “possible.” 

After the fall of Assad, the IDF entered a U.N. buffer zone inside Syria in order to protect its own borders as the country’s military and government were in flux. Reports indicate that Damascus is seeking an end to the Israeli presence there, while Israel is calling for the demilitarization of southwest Syria and for al-Sharaa’s government to take more responsibility for the security of the Druze minority in the region.

“Israel’s main concerns center on the deployment of Syrian forces in the south and the protection of the Druze minority, while Syria remains wary of leaving large parts of southern territory outside its control,” said Ahmad Sharawi, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. 

Trump administration officials have said in recent months that the security deal is “99% done,” though it has yet to be finalized. 

Experts told Jewish Insider the visit could allow the parties to work out the details of the agreement and push the long-awaited security deal to completion — a development that would further cement Damascus’ strategic realignment with Washington and Israel and foster reduced dependence on Iran. 

“Regrettably, a much-discussed Syria-Israel security agreement is evidently not ready to be announced, but it is hoped that the visit will help push the agreement over the finish line,” said Robert Satloff, executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who called the visit a “landmark event.”

“Al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House is significant because it marks the first time Washington has treated Damascus not as an adversary, but as a potential partner,” said Sharawi. “There is a real possibility that this meeting could move both sides closer to signing such an agreement.”

To bolster a potential agreement, the U.S. is also preparing to deploy forces to an airbase near Damascus, according to Reuters. The move would mark the first direct American military presence in the Syrian capital, even as President Donald Trump has advocated for reduced or nonexistent military involvement in the region.  

Shawari says a potential U.S. military presence at an airbase near Damascus would represent a “turning point” in the talks.

“For Israel, a limited U.S. presence would provide Israel with a guarantor to keep the Syrians in check; for Damascus, it would signal goodwill toward Washington and a willingness to align with U.S. strategic interests in promoting regional stability,” said Shawari. 

Trump has worked on normalizing U.S. relations with the new Syrian government during his second term. During his Middle East visit in May, Trump became the first American president in 25 years to meet with a Syrian leader and announced an end to U.S. sanctions on Syria for the first time in more than a decade. 

The U.S. requested that the United Nations lift sanctions on al-Sharaa ahead of the visit — a move the Security Council approved on Thursday. The decision allows the U.S. to legally remove al-Sharaa from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list and follows the State Department’s July 2025 decision to delist his faction, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The Trump administration has also expressed support for repealing the congressionally mandated Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, a move the Senate is considering. 

“I’m glad that the @UN Security Council lifted its sanctions on Syria,” wrote Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, on X on Friday. “This will benefit the Syrian economy and its people. Along with @potus, my colleagues and I are working to repeal Caesar sanctions so Syria can become a safe and prosperous partner for the U.S. in the Middle East.”

The Oval Office meeting also comes on the heels of an announcement Thursday that Kazakhstan will be joining the Abraham Accords, a move that Trump  administration officials said they hoped would help build momentum for the Accords ahead of the meeting and a later visit by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Nov. 18. 

“President Trump has advocated for Syria’s inclusion in the Abraham Accords since lifting sanctions in May,” said Sharawi. “But, al-Sharaa himself has described that step as unrealistic for now, while signaling that he’s open to a security agreement modeled on the 1974 disengagement accord.”

The 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement — a resolution that was passed by the U.N — established a zone of separation between Israel and Syria and called for the disengagement of forces following the 1973 Yom Kippur War. 

In a webinar hosted by The Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Friday, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog — who said an “active U.S. role” is essential for the deal — questioned the effectiveness of using the previous agreement as a template.

“There is still the framework of the 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria following the 1973 war, but that is outdated,” said Herzog. “We need a new framework and new structure.”

Sharawi noted a new framework for cooperation between Syria and Israel could be based on “shared security threats” such as Iran and Hezbollah — a point Herzog also emphasized.

“Both Israel and al-Sharaa would take action [under a security agreement] to prevent Hezbollah from reasserting itself in Syria or Iranians smuggling weapons and munitions to Hezbollah in Lebanon through Syria,” said Herzog. “So this is a very big deal, but there are also risks.”

“The biggest opportunity is the fact that both al-Sharaa and Israel regard Iran and the Iranian axis as an enemy,” Herzog added. “Syria was a vital link in the Iranian axis and this is no longer the case — an indirect outcome of Israel turning the tables on Hezbollah and later on Iran.”

Satloff said there are steps al-Sharaa could take — whether as part of the emerging agreement or through independent gestures — to further strengthen regional security and demonstrate Damascus’ commitment to peace.

“One area where President al-Sharaa could make a singular contribution to broader Middle East peace is to publicly clarify an issue that has provided Lebanon’s Hezbollah with fodder for its ‘resistance’ against Israel — that is, for Syria to state that the disputed Shebaa Farms and divided town of Ghajar were Syrian territory when taken by Israel, not Lebanese,” said Satloff, referring to a disputed area along the Lebanon-Syria-Israel border that has been under Israeli control since 1967 but is claimed by Lebanon with Syrian backing. “This would pull the rug from under Hezbollah and undermine much of its rationale for continuing the fight against Israel.”