In a development that diplomats on both sides are calling “cautious but unprecedented,” senior Syrian and Israeli officials met face-to-face in the Azerbaijani capital on Saturday, discussing regional security threats and the outlines of possible future cooperation.
Syria-based news outlet Syria TV, citing the Israeli daily Haaretz, reported that the talks focused on shared concerns over Iran, Hezbollah, and Palestinian factions operating out of Syrian territory, and even broached the idea of opening an Israeli “coordination office” in Damascus that would operate without formal diplomatic trappings.
A meeting shrouded in discretion
Neither government has publicly identified its representatives in the room. Yet, a French diplomatic source confirmed to AFP that “a direct Syrian–Israeli channel” convened in Baku to “take the pulse” of the security situation in southern Syria. The same source stressed that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa did not personally attend, though the rendezvous occurred on the sidelines of his state visit to Azerbaijan.
According to regional officials briefed on the encounter, the agenda stretched well beyond battlefield flashpoints. “They discussed how to avoid accidental escalation around the Golan, mechanisms for de-confliction in the air, and limited humanitarian arrangements,” one Gulf diplomat said. “There is no talk of embassies, flags, or anthems yet—only pragmatic steps.”
Energy, leverage, and the gas factor
President al-Sharaa arrived in Baku earlier in the day to sign a natural-gas supply agreement with SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state energy giant. Syrian Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir, who inked the deal, called it “a critical hedge against winter shortages.” For Israel, the contract is more than a commercial footnote. “If Syrian power plants run on Azerbaijani gas instead of Iranian crude, it tilts Damascus one notch further away from Tehran,” explained Yoav Levi, an energy analyst at the Israeli Institute for Regional Strategies. Azerbaijani officials, careful to avoid the appearance of choosing sides, hailed the pact as “purely economic.”
Washington on the horizon
The backstage diplomacy in Baku came as Israeli media outlets, notably I24News, floated the prospect of a September summit in Washington between al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, potentially under the auspices of U.S. President Donald Trump. Sources “close to the Syrian presidency,” quoted by the channel, said the parties could sign a limited security accord at the White House days before the UN General Assembly opens—though Syrian spokespeople have neither confirmed nor denied the claim.
Gulf mediation quietly intensifies
In Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, officials are watching the Baku channel with interest. Diplomatic insiders say the United Arab Emirates has been “working the phones for months,” offering back-channel facilitation. At the same time, Saudi Arabia has given what one Saudi official described as “tacit encouragement.” The calculus is straightforward: peeling Syria away from Iran’s orbit would recalibrate the region’s balance of power, and an eventual Syrian-Israeli accord could unlock reconstruction funds long withheld by Gulf donors.
Obstacles loom large
Still, the political minefield is enormous. Hard-line elements within Syria’s security apparatus remain vehemently opposed to any overture toward Israel, and Hezbollah fighters entrenched along the Lebanese border have vowed to resist “normalization.” In Israel, opposition leaders accuse the Netanyahu government of chasing a “photo-op” while ignoring the stalled Palestinian track. Internationally, Russia—Damascus’s key military backer—has signaled it will “monitor” the talks but insists that any deal must safeguard its foothold in Syria.
Cautious optimism
For now, officials in Baku, Jerusalem, and Damascus are tempering expectations. Yet the fact that Syrian and Israeli envoys met publicly acknowledged, and under the glare of regional media, marks a symbolic break with decades of clandestine contacts. As one senior Azerbaijani diplomat put it, “We’re not witnessing a peace treaty—just the first bricks of a bridge. Whether that bridge is completed or blown up is a question for the months ahead.”
Photo: Israel-Syria borders. Syria Tv