By Timour Azhari and Rami Ayyub
Aug 19 (Reuters) - The head of Israel's spy agency held a phone call with Syria's foreign minister last week during which they discussed Turkey's military presence in Syria, three people familiar with the matter said, just days before Israel bombed a Syrian airbase. The August 14 call between Mossad spy agency chief Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani is one of the highest-level contacts yet between Israel and the Damascus administration led by
President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The Israeli prime minister's office, which handles queries regarding Mossad, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Shaibani. After Israel attacked the Abu al-Duhur airbase on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Damascus was on the verge of permitting Turkish troops to deploy there, and had ignored Israel's repeated warnings that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel's security. The sources said the issue of Turkish military support for Syria dominated Gofman's call with Shaibani four days earlier. The call centred on "Israeli inquiries about what (Turkey) was doing in terms of increasing their military presence, as well as the sale of weapons, provision of drones and other issues", one of the sources said. A second source, a senior official, said Gofman used the call to ask about Turkey's provision of arms to Syria's army. A third source familiar with the matter confirmed the call took place, saying that they discussed Turkey's military presence in Syria. Turkey's defence ministry declined to comment and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NETANYAHU WARNS OVER TURKEY-SYRIA TIES Turkey has emerged as a close ally of the Sharaa administration since Bashar al-Assad was toppled in 2024, having backed rebels during the Syrian civil war, stirring concern in Israel about rising Turkish sway on its northern frontier.
Sharaa, who has established close ties with Washington, said in July that Syria was seeking to reach a security agreement with Israel and trying to involve a large group of countries to pressure Israel to adopt a more balanced policy towards his country. Netanyahu, in a video posted on X on Wednesday, said Israel "will not tolerate a Turkish military establishment in Syria that threatens Israel". "We made it clear to Turkey — Don't. Apparently they didn't hear the message, so we made sure they understood it better," he said, in an apparent reference to the airstrikes. The Turkish presidency on Wednesday rejected what it called "untenable allegations" by Israel regarding its military position in Syria, saying Israel aimed to legitimise its "unlawful airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity". Turkey would "continue to cooperate with the Syrian Government on a legitimate basis for the establishment of peace, stability, and prosperity", it said, without referring to any potential deployment plans. Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria and Iraq, said on Tuesday the Israeli strikes were "an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability".
In separate comments to Reuters on Tuesday, Barrack said that Washington was working to establish a deconfliction mechanism among Israel, Turkey and Syria, and added the U.S. already facilitates an information-sharing and dialogue mechanism among the parties.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari and Rami Ayyub; Additional reporting by Daren Butler in Istanbul; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Lisa Shumaker)
