People walk past election campaign flags and a car plastered with images of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of the upcoming elections, in Jerusalem on Oct. 16, 2026. (Credit: John Wessels / AFP)
What prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to disclose a phone call he made to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in July 2025? Electoral calculations, certainly, but not just that.Netanyahu revealed the call during a campaign rally with Israel’s Druze community on Thursday. He presented it as a warning to Sharaa, telling him to halt military operations in Sweida. The Israeli prime minister thus cast himself as the Druze community’s protector, while promising voters that he would enable displaced residents to return to their localities.On the Syrian side, the revelation was not denied. In response, a Syrian official quoted by the SANA news agency described the halt to military operations as part of a cease-fire secured through a U.S. initiative, while reaffirming Damascus’ opposition to the use of the Druze community for...
What prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to disclose a phone call he made to Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in July 2025? Electoral calculations, certainly, but not just that.Netanyahu revealed the call during a campaign rally with Israel’s Druze community on Thursday. He presented it as a warning to Sharaa, telling him to halt military operations in Sweida. The Israeli prime minister thus cast himself as the Druze community’s protector, while promising voters that he would enable displaced residents to return to their localities.On the Syrian side, the revelation was not denied. In response, a Syrian official quoted by the SANA news agency described the halt to military operations as part of a cease-fire secured through a U.S. initiative, while reaffirming Damascus’ opposition to the use of the Druze community...
