Syria's foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, met a high-level Israeli delegation led by Roman Gofman, the head of Mossad, in Jordan on Sunday, in talks mediated by the United States, Al Jazeera reports.
According to Sana, the Syrian state news agency, the discussions "focused on establishing practical mechanisms to halt Israeli attacks, arrests and targeting operations" and on "reviving negotiations for a lasting security agreement".
Two lists that do not overlap
Syria's stated priorities are an Israeli withdrawal to the positions held before December 2024 and full restoration of the 1974 disengagement agreement. Damascus also asserted its sovereign right to rebuild its armed forces and choose its own alliances, and restated its claim to the Golan Heights.
Israel's stated conditions are that Turkish military activity in Syria be prevented, that the Syrian side of the Golan remain demilitarized, that the security of the Druze community be assured, that Syria not acquire certain strategic weapons, and that any withdrawal be conditioned on diplomatic achievements.
Put side by side, the difficulty is plain. Syria's opening position is that it may rearm and choose its partners; Israel's is that it may not do either. There is no version of both lists being satisfied at once, which is why the talks are described as being about mechanisms rather than terms.
What just happened on the ground
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. On Thursday it bombed the Abu Duhur air base, saying the aim was to prevent a Turkish deployment there.
That is the immediate reason these two delegations are in a room. It also explains the third subject on the agenda, which was easing tensions between Israel and Turkey and keeping their rivalry from destabilizing Syria. Syria's territory is where that rivalry is being conducted, and the Syrian government is the party with the least ability to stop it.
This has been tried before
Talks in January produced a joint intelligence-sharing mechanism. The negotiations froze in late February.
A resumed process that begins where the last one broke down is not nothing, but it is a modest thing. The measure of Sunday's meeting will be whether the strikes stop, and no announcement to that effect has been made.
What we could not establish
We could not establish where in Jordan the meeting took place, who represented the United States, whether Jordan took part or only hosted, whether anything was agreed, or whether another round is scheduled. Israel's positions are as the report characterizes them rather than statements we have seen from Israeli officials. We verified this account from a single publication.
