The United States special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, said America’s interests weren’t aligned with any country in the Middle East, including Israel.
Barrack gave a pessimistic assessment of the Middle East, saying there would probably never be peace in the region during an interview with the National News’s On the Record with Hadley Gamble. He then made a surprising statement, saying his mistrust of all powers in the region extends to longtime U.S. ally Israel.
“If we’ve talked about trust, quite honestly, in this business, I don’t trust any of them. Our interests are not aligned. ‘Ally’ is a mistaken word; our interests are not aligned,” he said.
When Gamble interjected to ask if he was referring to the Syrian regime, he said he was referring to the whole region generally. She then asked if that included Israel, to which he responded, “Absolutely.”
Barrack voiced further disenchantment with Israel and its effect on the region elsewhere in the interview, particularly regarding Lebanon. He said that due to Israel’s actions, Hezbollah had no incentive to disarm.
“This is the problem, especially when Israel is attacking everybody. Israel is attacking Syria, Israel is attacking Lebanon, Israel is attacking Tunisia. As it goes on, [Hezbollah’s] argument gets better and better, is, ‘We’re here to protect the Lebanese from Israel,’” he said.
Overall, the special envoy voiced disgust with the entire situation in the Middle East.
“When we say peace, it’s an illusion,” he said. “There’s never been peace [in the Middle East]. There will probably never be peace because everybody’s fighting for legitimacy.”
“Personally, I hate what’s happened in Gaza on all sides, for the Palestinians, for the Israelis, for the Jordanians, for the Lebanese, for the Syrians, for the Turks. You know … it’s a mess,” Barrack said.
Despite his criticisms of Israel, he predicted that the U.S. position on the Jewish state wouldn’t change anytime soon.
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“Israel is a valued ally. We subsidize them $4 [billion] to $5 billion a year. It has a special place in America’s heart, and we’re living with the confusion of what’s happening in this transition. So it’s complicated,” Barrack said.
Barrack has spearheaded U.S. diplomacy with the unstable new Syrian regime of Ahmed al Shabaab, the former head of al Qaeda’s Syrian branch. Israel’s hostile approach to Damascus has clashed with Barack’s vision of support for the Syrian state.
