Netanyahu Claims Contact with Legitimate Syrian President Last Year

Occupying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed he had a phone call with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa during the violence that erupted in Syria’s southern Sweida Governorate in July 2025. Netanyahu made these remarks at an election rally with members of the Druze community in his hometown of Yarka, located in the occupied territories, stating that the conversation was “very short and very sharp,” and asserting that it helped halt what he described as a “massacre,” without disclosing the timing or details of the call. He added that Israel had struck government targets in Damascus during those events, including the Ministry of Defense and a site within the presidential palace complex, vowing to do “whatever is necessary” to protect the Druze in Syria and ensure their return to their homes.