Report: Washington Asked Israel to Avoid Escalation with Syria

The U.S. website Axios reported that U.S. President Donald Trump urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid escalation with Syria, calling for “not provoking the Syrian transitional government,” according to an American official cited by the website on Tuesday evening.

According to the same source, the official said that Trump informed Netanyahu that “the new leadership in Syria is seeking to make the country a better place,” noting that a phone call between the two preceded a shift in Netanyahu’s tone regarding the Syrian file, as he later stated that “it is possible to reach an agreement with Syria if Israeli demands are met.”

The website had reported in an earlier article on Monday, citing U.S. officials, that the Trump administration had expressed concern that repeated Israeli strikes inside Syrian territory could lead to destabilization and undermine efforts to reach security understandings between the two sides.

The U.S. official added that Washington asked Netanyahu to halt the strikes in Syria, warning that continuing them “could negatively affect him and squander a major diplomatic opportunity.”