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The United States views Türkiye, not Israel, as the primary actor in Syria following U.S. President Donald Trump's appointment of U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack as Syria special envoy, according to Israeli media Haaretz's analysis.
The appointment signals a U.S.-Türkiye rapprochement and confirms that Washington considers Türkiye the main actor in Syrian affairs rather than Israel, according to an analysis by Ben Samuels published in Israel's Haaretz newspaper.
Trump's selection of Barrack, the Lebanese-origin U.S. ambassador to Türkiye, as Syria special envoy has caused concerns within the Tel Aviv administration regarding Middle East policies, the report stated.
The policy shift coincides with the removal of Israel's hawkish supporters from their positions in the U.S. National Security Council, Haaretz reported.
Iran and Israel Unit Coordinator Merav Ceren, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, and Africa Unit Coordinator Eric Trager were among those dismissed from their National Security Council roles, according to the analysis.
Despite Trump maintaining public support for Israel's war efforts, his alignment with Türkiye over Israel regarding Syria's future could become the next major friction point in Washington-Tel Aviv relations, Samuels assessed.
This follows previous divergences, including Iran negotiations, agreements with Yemen's Houthis, and discussions with Hamas regarding Gaza.
Michael Koplow from the Israel Policy Forum highlighted the strategic implications of the appointment.
"Israel and the Trump administration are not on the same page regarding Türkiye and Syria. There is undoubtedly confusion in Israel about the same person managing both Türkiye and Syria policies simultaneously. This implicitly acknowledges that the U.S. views Türkiye as the primary player in Syria," Koplow said.
The report noted that Barrack has used similar language to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when discussing regional history.
"A century ago, the West imposed maps, mandates, drawn borders and foreign rule. Sykes-Picot divided Syria and the broader region not for peace but for imperial interests. This mistake cost generations. We will not do this again. The era of Western interference is over," Barrack stated.
The analysis emphasized that President Trump has no apparent concern about maintaining alignment with Tel Aviv in executing Middle East policy. The report suggested that Israel's continued attacks on Syria will escalate tensions and strengthen Türkiye's position in the region.
"Like (Trump special envoy) Steve Witkoff, Tom Barrack may lack some of the nuances of the complicated history of the region and the context, so he could he prone to making inane statements out of sync with the usual policy debates," Middle East Institute Senior Fellow Brian Katulis told Haaretz.
"The wise thing for Israel's leaders to do is to come up with a vision for how they see all of these regional threats being dealt with and what sort of viable political end state it aims for in Syria," Katulis said, "as well as Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen."
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