WhatsappSomething very weird is going on, and it’s infuriating that I even have to say this.
Now that Israel’s direct war with Iran is on pause, the headlines are pouring in from both Israeli and international media: ״Israel and Syria are holding direct talks״. ״A peace deal may be on the horizon״. ״Normalization״. ״Abraham Accords״. To many, it sounds like a dream — but if you understand the Middle East, you realize it’s a very dangerous illusion.
I understand the yearning for peace. Israelis have been at war with Syria, formally and informally, for decades. Who doesn’t want to end decades of conflict? Who doesn’t want regional calm?
But we must ask: is a deal the way to accomplish the end of conflict? at what cost, and with whom?
Let’s stop pretending. The Assad regime may be gone — and that’s good news. But it has been replaced by something potentially just as dangerous: a Sunni jihadist regime backed by Turkey, intent on taking over the world in the name of Allah, with a weakened rival Shiite Iran. A regime built on the same fundamentalist worldview that produced ISIS. A regime led by Bashar al-Sharaa, a man with a documented history of terror activity and persecution of minorities, who still has a U.S. bounty on his head!
This is not a new moderate voice in the region. This is not a reformed leader. Under his rule today, Christians, Kurds, and Druze in Syria are still being persecuted, brutalized, and killed. And immediately after toppling Assad, al-Sharaa proudly declared that their next destination for conquest is Jerusalem.
Peace with this new Syrian regime? That’s not peace. That’s strategic deception. This is a tactical ceasefire cloaked in diplomacy. In Islamic jihadist strategy, it’s called a ‘hudna’ — a pause in fighting not to end conflict, but to regroup and reload, until their next attack.
And yet, we’re hearing talk of normalization. Of peace deals. Of bringing Syria into the Abraham Accords. Even from allies like President Trump, whose instincts are strong but whose desire to deliver diplomatic wins can sometimes blind him to long-term realities.
Israel cannot afford that blindness.
Not after October 7th.
Not after the thousands of missiles fired at our people.
Not while hostages remain in Gaza and Jews are still being murdered in Judea and Samaria.
Israel should not be talking with the current regime in Syria. Not now. Not ever.
Instead, we should be projecting real deterrence, the only language the region truly understands.
That means liberating as much of southern Syria as necessary, yes, up to Damascus. Not because we want the territory, but to create a moral and strategic buffer zone that protects Israel and provides a lifeline to the persecuted minorities under jihadist control.
The Druze in southern Syria have been begging for help. Christian villages have been ravaged. Kurds have been abandoned by the West. And Israel, strong, moral, and capable, is just across the border.
Now is not the time for delusions. Now is the time for decisive, values-based strength. It’s time for peace through strength, not for diplomatic delusions.
We’ve seen this movie before. Oslo. Lebanon. Gaza. Every time Israel has traded land or trust for “peace” with enemies committed to our destruction, we’ve paid in Jewish blood.
Let’s learn from the past. Let’s remember what true deterrence looks like. Peace through strength is not just a slogan. It’s a strategy, the only one that works in this part of the world.
This message isn’t just for the jihadist regimes in Syria, Qatar, and Turkey. It’s for global players like Russia and China. And yes, it’s a message President Trump will understand better than any European diplomat: strength earns respect. Concessions earn contempt. Land brings deterrence. Deals without taking land, empowers an enemy.
This is not the moment for deals that give our enemies breathing room. This is the moment to finish what was started, a rare opportunity in history to reshape our regional reality for the better.
May our leaders have the strength and clarity to reject illusions and embrace the responsibility of real leadership.
Hashem has provided so many miracles in this war to allow us to be in this point of strength. May they push forward with faith in using these miracles properly, and not make the same mistake of our leaders after the miraculous 1967 war. Instead of applying sovereignty in liberated Judea, Samaria and Gaza, and allowing freedom of worship for Jews on the Temple Mount, they give up on all what we achieved by thinking that diplomacy would bring us peace – they gave our holy Temple Mount back to our enemies, they invited the Arabs of Hevron to come back after thy ran away, and they used Judea, Samaria and Gaza as a bargaining chip for peace negotiations.
We must stand up strong with the proper messaging so that our leaders do not make the same mistake today.
Am Yisrael Chai.
