Israel is deeply worried about President Donald Trump’s public suggestion that Syria should “deal with” Hezbollah, a proposal first reported in the Israeli Channel 12 evening broadcast on Monday night. An Israeli source told the network, “It is like throwing a match into a barrel of explosives, we will get Al Qaeda and Erdogan on the northern border.”
Israeli officials say they were not surprised by Trump’s remarks, because similar ideas have reportedly come up in past conversations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the U.S. president. Still, security officials view the scenario as the worst-case outcome, because their concern is not only Ahmad al-Sharaa, known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, but also Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom they believe stands behind him.
According to the report, both men have already won unusual favor from Trump at the White House. Israeli officials believe the only way to block this track is to speed up talks with Lebanon. They say there has already been significant recent progress toward a framework agreement with Beirut.
That framework would include an understanding that residents of southern Lebanon would return to their homes and that the Lebanese Army would deploy in the area. The article was published on June 17, 2026, at 07:10.
