US President Donald Trump may be pressuring Israel to withdraw forces from several areas along the border with Syria, according to Axios.
“President Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call Thursday that Israel should start redeploying its forces out of Syria and urged him to do the same in Lebanon, according to US and Israeli officials,” an Axios report by Barak Ravid noted on Tuesday.
This leads to questions about where Israel might shift forces and what areas are in the spotlight. To understand Israel’s current posture in Syria, it’s worth understanding how it got here.
Israel conquered the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War in 1967. After the Yom Kippur War in 1973 led to a ceasefire with Syria and Egypt, there was a new buffer zone created in the Golan between Israeli and Syrian forces. This led to a 1974 ceasefire line.
The line is not a simple line. It is actually several lines, one of which is called Alpha and another called Bravo.
In 2020, the IDF noted that “the Israel-Syria border consists of two lines which are separated by a 155-square-mile buffer zone. This buffer zone lies in Syrian territory and is monitored by the UN. To the east of it is the Bravo Line that signifies the end of the buffer zone and the beginning of Syria. To the west is the Alpha Line, where the UN buffer zone ends and Israel begins.”
Israel's concerns about threats from Syria
Therefore, we are actually talking about an area that is a long strip of land. There are Syrians who live along this line. During the Syrian civil war, Israel became more active along the Golan and reinforced its border fence while also providing food and medical care to Syrians.
This was an important operation that helped many Syrians. Israel had contacts with the Syrian rebel groups on the other side, which led to controversy with the Druze in the Golan who accused some of these groups of attacking the Druze village of Hader on the Syrian side.
In 2015, two Syrians being transported by an Israeli ambulance were attacked in Majdal Shams. The Assad regime returned to the Golan border in 2018. Israel facilitated the evacuation of hundreds of Syrian White Helmets at the time. They went to Jordan.
When the Assad regime fell in December 2024, the IDF moved quickly to take over the buffer zone and also take the peak of Mount Hermon. The IDF also carried out airstrikes across Syria. At the time, the concern was that weapons in Syria might fall into the hands of enemies, the way weapons from Libya had ended up with terrorist groups in Sinai and Gaza after 2012.
However, Israel’s concerns about threats from Syria have not materialized. In fact, it is Israel that has been bombing and raiding Syria. Some Israeli policymakers want Israel to guarantee Druze autonomy in Syria’s southern Sweida area. Others want southern Syria demilitarized.
Levant24, a Syrian media site, claimed that since December 2024 there have been more than 1,000 Israeli strikes in Syria and 1,157 “incursions.” It also says 202 people have been detained and 38 killed. It says the IDF has advanced around 15 miles into Syria. Levant24 keeps a daily record of these incidents. They often point to Israeli raids and maneuvers inside the villages that are along the buffer zone.
The US has cultivated warm ties with the new Syrian government of Ahmed al-Sharaa. Trump met Sharaa twice in 2025, and he recently met him again in Ankara on the sidelines of the NATO summit. Trump has been impressed with Sharaa.
IDF presence in Syria is 'needed' to avoid another Oct. 7-type attack
Syria has a new parliament and has made a lot of progress since December 2024.
Israel once shared interests with the Syrian rebels and wanted to work with them against Iran and Hezbollah. However, after December 2024 the narrative changed in Jerusalem, and some began calling the new government of Syria “jihadists.”
How did partners against Hezbollah and Iran become “jihadists”? In many cases it’s the same people in southern Syria, former Syrian rebels who back the government. If they weren’t jihadists in 2015 or 2018, why would they be a threat now?
Axios noted that “Trump’s requests add to growing pressure on the Israeli leader. The Israel Defense Forces currently occupy large parts of southern Lebanon and southern Syria, a presence the government says is needed to prevent another Oct. 7-type invasion.”
Trump said, “They don’t want you there. You should redeploy,” Trump told Netanyahu, according to the US official quoted by Axios. Trump understands that the friction in Syria between the IDF and the local Syrians could cause a crisis with Syria and also harm potential ties. Trump sees the long-term strategy.
In Jerusalem, there are concerns that Syria is too close to Turkey, and Jerusalem now views Ankara as an emerging threat. Some voices have even claimed that Turkey is the “new” or “next” Iran. Turkish officials have sometimes been extreme in their anti-Israel rhetoric. However, they appear to be toning it down since the NATO meeting.
Trump likely wants to see this rhetoric in Jerusalem and Ankara reduced. US Ambassador Tom Barrack, who is ambassador to Turkey and also US envoy to Syria and Iraq, would also likely prefer stability, quiet, and accommodation.
This means that Trump is now looking to work on the Syria and Iraq file. He hosted the Iraqi prime minister at the White House on Tuesday. There are major opportunities here for the US and also for Israel.
Rethinking Israel's strategy along the Syrian border
There is no real strategic or tactical need to keep up the friction with Syrian villages along the buffer zone. In the last week, since July 7, there have been numerous incidents where the IDF had to remove Israeli civilian activists from Syria.
If Israeli civilians are trying to get into Syria to settle it, then it would appear the “jihadist” threat is not very big. Instead, the problem the IDF seems to face is restraining Israelis from creating “settlements” in Syria. This would lead to more tensions with the local Syrians. It also means there is potentially more chaos and instability along the border.
A re-think in Israel’s strategy and tactics may be necessary in the future. Israel has worked to prevent threats.
However, threat prevention can also be accomplished by working with Syria’s new security forces, including its Interior Ministry, which has had success recently in cracking down on terrorist threats in Syria.
The path forward likely means the US will need to remain engaged. However, considering the positive ties that once existed between Israel and the Syrian rebels on the Golan, there is a path forward that may help both countries.