UAE President receives Syrian President in Abu Dhabi

UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is on a working visit to the country on Monday.

During the meeting, held at Al Shati Palace in Abu Dhabi, the two sides discussed the fraternal relations between the two countries and ways to enhance their cooperation and joint action, particularly in the development and economic fields, to achieve their mutual interests and benefit their brotherly peoples.

The two sides also exchanged views on a number of regional issues of mutual interest, stressing the importance of working to strengthen the foundations of peace, security, and stability in the Middle East for the benefit of all its countries and the development and prosperity of its people.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed reiterated the UAE's position in supporting our brothers in the Syrian Arab Republic and everything that serves their interests and contributes to achieving their aspirations for development, stability, and a prosperous future.

For his part, the Syrian President expressed his thanks to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed for the UAE's supportive stance toward Syria and its people, and his appreciation for his keenness to strengthen fraternal relations between the two countries, wishing the country continued progress and prosperity.

This visit comes less than three months after his previous visit on April 13, during which he met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Separately, the Hebrew newspaper Maariv revealed a new scenario being promoted by Israel as part of ongoing efforts to conclude a potential agreement with Syria. This scenario would include Israeli recognition of Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights in exchange for leasing the plateau to Tel Aviv for an indefinite period, as part of an international agreement.

According to the newspaper, Israeli authorities believe that President al-Sharaa would face difficulty in directly relinquishing the Golan Heights if official peace talks were launched between the two sides. This would be due to the expected popular rejection of this proposal, especially since the internal opposition would portray him as having "sold Islamic land to Jews."

Maariv notes that the idea of ​​leasing the Golan is not new. It was previously raised during advanced peace negotiations under former Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak, where those talks also addressed security arrangements, before faltering and being suspended.

Israeli assessments believe that one of the "advantages" of current Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa for Tel Aviv is the absence of any direct war history between him and Israel, which, according to the newspaper, provides an opportunity to build trusting relations from the outset.

The newspaper added that the security services of both sides communicate and coordinate directly and indirectly, pointing to a recent Israeli military operation against a cell near the Syrian border suspected of being run by Iranians. The newspaper believes the operation served the interests of the new Syrian regime, noting thatThe Sharaa group was aware of the Israeli raid, the repercussions of which reached the outskirts of Damascus, but did not issue a response.

The newspaper believes that this security coordination and Damascus's silence on the Israeli strikes reflect "a new climate of trust and mutual respect," which could pave the way for a possible normalization of relations between the two sides.