Greek Orthodox Patriarch Urges Trump to Protect Christians in South Lebanon and Pressure Syrian President

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem visited the White House this week and asked U.S. President Donald Trump to ensure the security of Christian villages in southern Lebanon, it was reported this morning, Thursday, on This Morning on Kan News on Reshet Bet. The cleric also called on Trump to pressure Syrian President al-Sharaa to improve treatment of Christians in his country.

Patriarch Theophilos III met with Trump, accompanied by his aides, the Mugrabi brothers. The focus of the unusual meeting was the situation of Christians in the region. Sources familiar with the details of the meeting said that the Christian patriarch raised before the U.S. president his concern for the fate of Christians in villages in southern Lebanon that had not been evacuated in the day after the war.

The concern raised by the Christian patriarch is that the Shiite population will settle scores with them for not having evacuated, unlike the rest, and accuse them of collaborating with Israel. For that reason, the patriarch tried to enlist Trump on the issue during the meeting. Those sources added that the impression was that Trump was attentive to the matter and taking it into account.

Kan News also learned that during the meeting, Theophilos III asked Trump to use his influence on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to improve the situation of the Christian minority in his country, which at times suffers from restrictions on its freedoms, despite the government's efforts to present itself externally as allowing freedom of religious worship in the new Syria after the Assad regime.

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