With Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new president of Syria, having met this month with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., it is a remarkable turnaround for a man who just a few weeks ago was internationally labeled a designated terrorist.
It is still too early to tell the merits of such a delisting, as Trump and his administration throw their weight behind the new Syrian government. Much of that confidence is the result of the work of several American Jewish leaders — led by Rabbi Yusuf Hamra, head of the Jewish Heritage in Syria Foundation and a leader of the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York; and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
The main focus of the rabbis and other prominent Jewish groups has been to uplift Syria economically and socially, rather than advocate politically for one party or the other. In these remarkable times, where hatred toward Jews seems to be at an all-time high, it’s a testament to the goodwill of both Sephardic and Ashkenazi rabbinical leadership to help the people of Syria, despite the usual antisemitic innuendoes thrown at the intentions of such actions.
Almost a year after the fall of the long-time regime of Bashar Assad, Syria stands at a threshold of pivoting to stability. It does so even though it is surrounded by the uncertainty of the new government’s ability to rein in the various terrorist militias that have carried out massacres against the Druze and Alawites, as well as routine killings and bombings against Christians. While Damascus genuinely remains peaceful and open for business, where all communities dare to believe in a shared open future, the coastal communities toward the northwest and the holy mountains of Jabal al Druze toward the south are less certain.
Since the political overthrow in December 2024, the work of Hamra and Cooper has gone a long way in pacifying fears and developing an all-inclusive coalition to make Syria more cohesive on a human level to rebuild shattered communities. The psychological scarring, of course, from 15 years of civil war will be much harder to recover from than the physical ruins littered all over the country.
I’ve written before about the history and significance of the Jews from greater Syria and how they hold the key not just to cities in Aleppo and Damascus, but to the wider Middle East, due to a historical connectivity that stretches from Abu Dhabi and New Delhi all the way to Mexico City and Buenos Aires.
Beyond just Syrian Jews, there has been a great deal of engagement between various Syrian governments with non-Syrian Jews as well. These include the famed back channels between former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Syrian President Hafez Assad (Bashar Assad’s father), to the younger Assad’s meetings with Malcolm Hoenlein, former executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and former Argentinian Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman. The various Jews of non-Sephardic backgrounds, whether foreign officials from Latin America or more local communal leaders, had always found Syria welcoming as it looked to overcome its traumatic past in the years after the expulsion of Jews after the establishment of the modern-day State of Israel in 1948.
As Syria looks to move away from its authoritarian past, it can be argued that, aside from Israel, the new Syria right now is perhaps the least antisemitic country in the Middle East. More than half a dozen high-profile Jewish delegations have visited to explore business opportunities and revive damaged synagogues, and to invest in cultural and social activity beyond what is of interest to Syrian Jews.
Cooper has been one of the biggest proponents of engaging with the new Syrian leadership, long before anyone else dared. Alongside American evangelical leader and businessman Rev. Johnnie Moore Jr., he visited Damascus earlier this year. They also spoke with faith-based leaders from throughout the country and asked difficult questions of the new president. The rabbi was mindful to respect and not preach.
I have witnessed firsthand how he has met Syrians in multiple countries in confidence, sharing their views with all sides, which remain uneasy about the new leadership and its true intentions. He also conveyed directly to Trump the importance of timing and how the United States should, out of goodwill, stand by Syria’s side as it overcomes trauma.
It was no coincidence that Trump announced the initial lifting of sanctions on Syria while Cooper was in Damascus. The rabbi was interviewed by BBC Arabic’s leading anchors, Dina Waqqaf, who herself comes from a prominent Syrian family. Despite the media outlet’s open antisemitism, Cooper thought it fitting that he must openly engage with Syrian audiences. He has met Sunni, Christian, Druze and Alawite leaders to make sure that Syria remains committed to religious freedom without prejudice.
Meanwhile, Hamra has narrowed in on the Syrian Jewish community and repeatedly met members of Congress to talk about lifting economic sanctions to help not only the Jewish community in Syria, but millions of innocent Syrians of all faiths who suffer as a result of a crippling economic siege. During al-Sharaa’s interaction with the Syrian diaspora, Hamra and the Syrian Jewish community got a rousing reception, with the rabbi reciting a special prayer and blessing on stage, holding the president’s hand.
Hamra has also been assisted by Elie Abadie, a senior rabbi in the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities and senior rabbi in residence of the Jewish Community Center of the United Arab Emirates, who has also played a crucial quiet role with the Syrian community of not just Jews, but Muslims in America.
It is a quiet but unparalleled feat of humanity that these American rabbis carry out to make Syria great again.
Kamal Alam, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, is working on an oral history project on the history of Syrian Jews.
