Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disclosed on Thursday that he held a direct conversation with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa last year, at the height of the violence between Syrian government forces and the Druze community in Sweida.

The revelation came on the campaign trail, as Netanyahu spoke about his record ahead of the elections.

“I spoke with al-Sharaa. It was a very short conversation, very sharp, and the massacre stopped,” Netanyahu said. “I will do whatever is needed to protect our Druze brothers. There is more work to be done — I can’t tell everything.”

Background

The violence in Sweida, the heartland of Syria’s Druze community near the Israeli border, erupted on July 13, 2025, with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes. Syrian government forces entered the city, saying they were there to oversee a ceasefire, but according to witnesses, Druze armed groups and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, they fought alongside the Bedouin against the Druze.

More than 700 people were killed within a week, according to reports at the time, including 245 Druze civilians, 165 of whom were summarily executed. Israeli Druze leaders also brought forward testimony of sexual crimes committed against Druze women.

Israel responded with airstrikes on Syrian tanks and forces heading toward Sweida, and later struck the Syrian army’s headquarters in Damascus. Defense Minister Israel Katz declared at the time that “Israel will not abandon the Druze in Syria and will enforce the demilitarization policy we have decided on.” Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, spiritual leader of the Druze in Israel, called it “an existential battle for the Druze community.”

Syrian forces withdrew from Sweida days later, and a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Syria was announced by Washington’s Syria envoy, Tom Barrack. Al-Sharaa pledged in a televised address to hold accountable those who harmed the Druze.

Until now, there had been no public confirmation that Netanyahu and al-Sharaa spoke directly during the crisis.