LEILA FADEL, HOST:
In an interview with NPR, a high-ranking Syrian official said something unprecedented about relations with Israel.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
This is fascinating. He told NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi that Syria wants to have cordial ties and wants the U.S. to help facilitate cordial ties. Syria and Israel, not something you hear every day from an Arab-led government, let alone one made up of rebels who once had ties to al-Qaida. The shock waves from that statement are reverberating through the region.
FADEL: For more, Hadeel joins us now from Damascus. Hi, Hadeel.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Hello.
FADEL: OK, so tell us more about that meeting. What exactly did he say?
AL-SHALCHI: Well, this is the governor of Damascus, Maher Marwan. He's appointed by the leader of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham - or HTS - Ahmed al-Sharaa. So he's, in his inner circle, really one of Syria's leading officials. Marwan met us in a massive ornate room. He was very pleasant, wore a suit and tie. He only shook hands with the two male colleagues with me. And we had a wide-ranging interview, almost an hour. But at the end, he raised the subject of Israel, which frankly surprised us. You know, remember, Israel has been bombing Syria regularly since the regime fell, and it seized some of the Golan Heights. The governor started off by saying that it was, quote, "natural" that Israel felt some fear when HTS took power, and so it may have advanced a little or bombed a little. Marwan went on to say that Syria's problem was not with Israel, and that Syria couldn't be an opponent to Israel and wanted coexistence.
MAHER MARWAN: (Speaking Arabic).
AL-SHALCHI: Marwan said, "we don't want to meddle in anything that would threaten Israel's security or the security of any other country."
FADEL: Syria has never recognized Israel as a state, so this statement's pretty remarkable. Does it indicate the new Syrian leaders plan a different approach with Israel?
AL-SHALCHI: Well, it was very obvious he wanted this message to be heard in the United States. You know, he sat up in his chair, made sure we heard him carefully. He said he wanted the United States to use its influence to help mediate this coexistence with Israel. A U.S. official told NPR that the U.S. had relayed the message to Israel. And in a statement to NPR, the Israeli foreign ministry said that it rejected any overture from HTS. And, Leila, like you said, it was remarkable - for two reasons. First, Syria and Israel have been in a state of war since Israel's creation in 1948. They've never had diplomatic ties. And second, this is a message coming from a group designated a terrorist organization by the United States with former affiliation to al-Qaida.
FADEL: And what was the regional reaction?
AL-SHALCHI: I mean, well, first of all, the news got huge traction in the Middle East. Almost every Israeli and Arab media outlet picked it up. The parts of the interview I used in my radio piece of his voice were played all over Arabic social media. And then that's when the backlash began. Israel and many of its Arab neighbors, like you know, have been at war for decades. And talk of normalization and normalizing relations is controversial, especially after the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians. So HTS discussing possible peace with Israel was shocking to many Arabs and, in fact, unwelcome.
FADEL: And has there been blowback for the governor?
AL-SHALCHI: First, the government itself distanced itself from Marwan and his comments with a statement saying that they did not represent the views of the foreign ministry or of those of Sharaa, which is contrary to what the governor told us. And in the evening, he issued a video distancing himself from his comments to NPR.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARWAN: (Speaking Arabic).
AL-SHALCHI: He said, "I did not touch on the topic of peace with Israel, and it's not my right to do so." And yesterday evening, in an interview with an Arabic TV news channel, HTS leader Sharaa didn't address Israel directly but said he didn't want Syria to become a source of political or regional unrest.
FADEL: NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Damascus. Thank you.
AL-SHALCHI: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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