Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed behind-the-scenes details of Israel's intervention during the massacre of Druze in Syria's Sweida province, disclosing for the first time that he spoke directly by phone with Syria's new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and ordered him to stop the killing.
Netanyahu made the disclosure during a visit to the Likud branch in Yarka, a Druze village in northern Israel, where he met with party activists and supporters from the community.
Speaking about Israel's handling of the situation in Syria, where a large Druze population lives, the prime minister referenced the new regime's early attempts at massacres and addressed specifically the attack in Sweida.
"When there was the massacre of our Druze brothers in Syria, I picked up the phone to Syria's president al-Sharaa and told him to stop," Netanyahu said.
The attempted massacre in Sweida came after similar bloodbaths carried out by the regime in other areas, including the Kurdish region in the north and the Alawite provinces along the coast, where thousands were killed in those government-led pogroms.
The Sweida massacre was largely halted and prevented with Israel's help. Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on al-Sharaa's forces that caused them to flee, and has since made it clear that it will not tolerate any threat to the Druze.
