Op-Ed: Kalid Loul: For Syria, the path to Peace Runs Through the Abraham Accords
The guns still haven’t gone silent in Syria. In recent days, clashes between the government and Druze militias reignited in the south, while Kurdish-led fighters exchanged fire with regime-aligned forces in the north. A fragile ceasefire is crumbling. The interim government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who came to power promising unity and renewal, is struggling to control its own troops, let alone heal a shattered nation.
But amid the chaos, a different path remains open: one rooted in memory, mutual respect, and regional reintegration. That path runs through the Abraham Accords.
The Accords, which began as a historic agreement between Israel and several Arab states brokered by President Donald Trump in his first term, are more than a diplomatic breakthrough. They represent a new regional ethos — one grounded in coexistence rather than conflict. For Syria, a country long isolated and battered by sectarian strife, the Accords offer a lifeline to something it desperately needs: a return to its pluralist roots.
Before the war, and long before the Assad regime’s authoritarian grip, Syria was known as a crossroads of civilizations. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Armenians, Kurds, and Druze all lived side by side in cities like Damascus, Aleppo, and Qamishli. The country’s diversity was its strength. Its cosmopolitan identity was real.
That identity has been buried beneath rubble and rhetoric. But it’s not gone. Syria has the chance to reclaim it by choosing to join the Abraham Accords and reasserting a vision of national unity that celebrates — rather than suppresses — its rich cultural mosaic.
Some will scoff at the idea of Syria normalizing ties with Israel, given its long history of hostility, which have included decades of war, rejectionist diplomacy, and the forced exile of its Jewish citizens. But normalization does not mean forgetting the past. It means refusing to be held hostage by it.
Morocco has shown that it’s possible to restore synagogues, welcome back Jewish expatriates, and promote Muslim-Jewish reconciliation. Syria can do the same.
A country that cannot face its history honestly cannot build a just future. Restoring Jewish heritage sites in Aleppo and Damascus, inviting Jewish Syrians to return to visit or reflect, would be a gesture not of weakness but of moral strength. It would show the world — and the Syrian people — that this is a government with nothing to hide and everything to rebuild.
Joining the Accords would also bring practical dividends. Syria’s economy has been decimated by war, corruption, and sanctions. The Accords have already unlocked billions in trade, technology partnerships, and tourism across the region.
Israeli agricultural and water innovation alone could help Syria rehabilitate its devastated rural sectors. Regional cooperation could bring investment in infrastructure, energy, and health — all areas where Syria urgently needs assistance.
But beyond the economics lies something even more important: trust. Syrians no longer trust each other. In addition to destroying cities, the war has broken important social bonds. Kurds, Druze, Alawites, Sunnis, Christians — all are skeptical that the state represents them. By embracing an inclusive national narrative, one that welcomes back exiled Jews and celebrates Syria’s multiethnic history, the government could begin to rebuild those bonds.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa has told Western leaders that he wants to chart an independent path, one no longer dictated by Tehran or Moscow. Embracing the Abraham Accords would be the clearest signal yet that he means it. It would align Syria with moderate Arab powers like the UAE and Egypt and offer Damascus a new role: as a bridge between civilizations, rather than a battlefield for proxies.
It would also open the door for Western support. Reconstruction aid, World Bank funding, and sanctions relief are all more likely if Syria takes real steps toward regional peace and internal reform. A country that normalizes with Israel through a multilateral framework won’t just be seen as a diplomatic partner — it will be seen as a responsible actor.
None of this will be easy. The forces that tore Syria apart — sectarianism, authoritarianism, extremism — will not vanish overnight. But peace begins with a choice. Syria can choose to remain a closed society governed by fear and revenge. Or it can choose the harder but nobler path: reconciliation, reconstruction, and reintegration.
The Abraham Accords are not a panacea. But they are a platform. For Syria, they could be the beginning of something long overdue: the rebirth of a nation that remembers what it once was — and dares to become again.
Kalid Loul is the co-founder and managing director of the Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA).