Syria and Israel are engaged in “meaningful” talks through the United States that aim to restore calm along their border, according to Thomas J. Barrack Jr., one of President Trump’s key envoys to the Middle East.
Mr. Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, said in an interview with The New York Times that the administration wanted Syria to join the Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic relations between Israel and four Arab states during Mr. Trump’s first term. But Mr. Barrack cautioned that this could take time because Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Shara, could face resistance at home.
“He cannot be seen by his own people to be forced or coerced into the Abraham Accords,” Mr. Barrack said. “So he has to work slowly.”
Mr. Trump tapped Mr. Barrack, an old friend and private equity investor, to help realize his vision for the Middle East, which the administration hopes will foster less conflict and more prosperity.
Mr. Trump made clear during his Mideast visit in May that lucrative business deals in sectors including arms and artificial intelligence were his priority, and his decision to bomb nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran last month showed his support for Israel and willingness to use force against American foes.
Mr. Barrack called the administration’s approach a departure from previous “failed” American attempts at “nation building” and from past efforts to shape how other governments rule.
“Everyone in this neighborhood only respects power, and President Trump has established America’s power as a precursor to peace in spades,” Mr. Barrack said.
Much of Mr. Barrack’s work has focused on pushing Syria and Lebanon, both recovering from destructive wars, toward solving their own problems while rallying support from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other regional partners.
It is unclear whether Mr. Trump’s focus on prioritizing economic development over vocal support for democracy will fare better than the efforts of previous administrations to address some of the Middle East’s most bedeviling problems.
Mr. Barrack, in his first diplomatic job at age 78, has been working his relationships with heads of state and other power brokers. He said that having a direct line to the White House and to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the fact that the administration had “little patience for the region’s resistance to helping itself,” had helped.
Much of Mr. Barrack’s effort has focused on Syria, where the fledgling government of Mr. al-Shara is trying to rebuild the country after a 13-year civil war.
Mr. Trump signed an executive order this week aimed at ending decades of U.S. sanctions on Syria. Mr. Barrack said that instead of making strict demands, the administration had laid out objectives for the Syrian government to work toward while Washington monitored its progress.
Those indications would include finding a peaceful accommodation with Israel; integrating the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led militia that controls Syria’s northeast; and investigating the fates of Americans who went missing during the war.
Progress on democratization and inclusive government will not happen quickly, Mr. Barrack said, and are not part of the U.S. criteria.
American officials have expressed concerns about the thousands of fighters who came to Syria from abroad to take part in the war, mostly as part of jihadist groups.
Mr. Barrack said Washington realized that Syria could not expel those who remained and that they could pose a threat to the new government if they were excluded. So the Trump administration instead expects transparency about the roles they are given.
Lifting sanctions to encourage changes worked better than keeping them in place until Syria met specific demands, Mr. Barrack said.
“It is a brilliant way to accomplish the same thing, and these role-on, roll-off sanctions have never worked anyway,” he said.
The new Syrian government’s relations have been tense with Israel, whose military has moved into southern Syria and often carried out operations there. The talks aim to quiet the conflict along the border while laying the groundwork for better relations.
Mr. Barrack, whose ancestors emigrated to the United States from Lebanon, called a cease-fire that ended a war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group in November “a total failure” because Israel was still bombing Lebanon and Hezbollah was violating the agreement’s terms.
Last month, he delivered a proposal from Mr. Rubio that Mr. Barrack said outlined to Lebanon’s government, with specific objectives and timelines, how to disarm Hezbollah’s forces and fix the country’s economy. He is expected to receive a reply next week.
Disarming Hezbollah would require “carrots and sticks,” he said, and involved the Lebanese Army searching house to house for weapons.
Such a process would likely generate pushback from the Shiite Muslim communities that have long seen Hezbollah as the defenders of Lebanon and as the “resistance” against Israel.
To give those Shiites a stake in the process, Mr. Barrack said, the United States was seeking financial help from Saudi Arabia and Qatar that would focus on reconstruction in parts of southern Lebanon battered during the war.
“If the Shiites of Lebanon are getting something from this, they will cooperate with it,” he said.
Ben Hubbard is the Istanbul bureau chief, covering Turkey and the surrounding region.
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