LOS ANGELES (January 7, 2026) — Statement by Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center.
News that Israel and Syria have returned to the negotiating table, with the United States as mediator, is the kind of development that invites hope, but also demands the vigilance that history has taught us. It is a moment to greet with tempered optimism and the sober clarity that comes from knowing how fragile such openings can be.
Roughly five months ago, in the uncertain days after Assad’s departure and the rise of Syria’s new president, I sat with my colleague Rev. Johnnie Moore across from Syria’s new foreign minister, not far from the United Nations. We put forward the questions that history insists upon: What would make us believe your word? And what assurance do we have that promises made will not dissolve in the next turn of fortune?
That conversation opened the door to Damascus, where a meeting at the Presidential Palace stretched well beyond its allotted time. In those hours, we pressed for more than gestures, proposing humanitarian projects that might endure, and probing what genuine progress could look like on the ground.
The president was clear: Israel, he said, is no longer Syria’s enemy. He stopped short of embracing the Abraham Accords, but spoke of a desire for Israel and Syria to disentangle their hostilities and, step by step, seek a more stable future.
Today’s news suggests that those early signals may be coming to fruition. Yet the questions we asked in that first meeting still hang in the air, unresolved. With Israel’s security boundaries unyielding, the path forward remains long and uncertain.
If any of this is to matter, each step must be tested and proven. Words alone have never been enough. Real progress will be measured not by declarations, but by actions that can be seen and trusted, on security, on humanitarian access, on accountability that endures. Here, trust is not a given; it is something to be earned and verified at every turn.
About the Simon Wiesenthal Center
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a global Jewish human rights organization that combats antisemitism, defends the State of Israel, and uses the lessons of the Holocaust to teach tolerance and combat hate. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO). Headquartered in Los Angeles, the SWC operates in key centers of Jewish life including New York, Chicago, Florida, Toronto, Jerusalem, Vienna and Buenos Aires. To learn more, visit www.wiesenthal.org.
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