From: The Times of Israel January 5, 2025
“It’s too early to believe this rebrand,” an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.

As European and Arab leaders rush to meet Syria’s new leader, Israel calls for caution

Ahmed al-Sharaa is hoping to convince the world that he’s left his jihadist past behind, but Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and other senior officials are not persuaded

As Syria’s new government strives to gain international legitimacy after overthrowing the Bashar al-Assad regime, Western countries seem open to giving a chance to the government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.

At the same time, Israel is focused on making sure its allies don’t give a free pass to a man who led a brutal jihadist organization.

“This is a terrorist gang”
In Israel, Sa’ar is leading an effort to press the world to treat Sharaa’s government with extreme suspicion, while warning that European countries are too eager to overlook any potential problematic aspects of the new government in order to send back the millions of refugees who have fled the fighting since 2011

Also, last month, Sa’ar’s deputy Sharren Haskel accused Sharaa of being “a wolf in [sheep’s] clothes.”

“It is important to avoid falling for the attempt to whitewash jihadist [groups] in Syria. We know who they are and their true nature, even if they change their names, and we understand how dangerous they are to the West,” said Haskel.

Israeli leaders besides the foreign minister have also been warning against too readily buying into Sharaa’s ostensible transformation.