Syrian political activist in Israel's Knesset: 'Al-Sharaa sees the opportunity for peace with Israel as once-in-a-century'

Amid increasing talk of an agreement between Syria and Israel, Shadi Martini, a Syrian political activist who previously managed a hospital in the city of Aleppo and is the CEO of the Multifaith Alliance, visited Israel's parliament, the Knesset, on Wednesday.

During his visit, he said, “I recently met Syrian President Al-Sharaa. We spoke extensively about Israel. One of the things President al-Sharaa said was, ‘We only get such an opportunity once in a century. The window of opportunity won’t always remain open.’”

Martini made these remarks at an event of a new lobby that promotes a regional security arrangement, headed by Knesset members Gilad Kariv, Ram Ben Barak, and Alon Schuster.

The Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen, which is close to Iran, reported today citing diplomatic sources that officials in Israel are coordinating with the security apparatuses of Al-Sharaa’s government in Damascus.

According to these sources, al-Sharaa has given up the demand to return the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for Israeli support for his regime. Soon, three buffer zones are expected to be declared in southern Syria – in Daraa, Quneitra, and Sweida.

According to the report, as part of this arrangement, the Syrian army will evacuate its heavy weapons from southern Syria, and Syrian security forces will only be allowed to move around those areas with light weapons. These reports have not been confirmed by other sources.

A Syrian source familiar with the details told Kan News last week that, from the perspective of the Syrian regime, the first stage in establishing relations with Israel would be reaching a security agreement based on the 1974 disengagement accord, under which Israel would withdraw from territories it entered in southern Syria.

According to this source, certain clauses from the original agreement could be changed, such as deploying American forces instead of UN forces. The second stage, in the longer term, is supposed to build on the first stage and include the establishment of diplomatic relations. However, this would require a comprehensive deal and extensive discussion.

It was also reported that Israel has held secret high-level diplomatic discussions with Russia on the Iranian issue and on Syria. These talks took place about a week after the end of the campaign against Iran and after Russia offered itself as a mediator in negotiations between Iran and Israel.