Over one in three Syrians supports Damascus signing a peace treaty with Israel to improve the Arab Republic’s economic and security situation, a recent survey by the Syrian Center for Public Opinion Studies found.
The center surveyed a representative sample of 2,550 male and female Syrians of all ages across the country’s regions from April 18-26.
Some 60% said they expected a normalization pact to be signed in the future, and 40% expressed support for a peace deal with Jerusalem.
Despite what the report called a “significant shift” in the opinion toward peace with Jerusalem, respondents still described Israel as the top threat facing Syria (76.86%), followed by Iran (66.27%) and the United States (47.41%).
Even if a peace agreement were to be signed, only 16.78% of Syrians expressed support for Jerusalem opening an embassy in Damascus; 17.02% said they would accept a Syrian diplomatic mission in Israel.
Most Syrians link peace with the Jewish state to economic stability and prosperity, with more than 70% of respondents saying normalization would lead to increased Arab and international investment in Syria, and therefore an improved economy.
More than half of Syrians believe normalization would end regional wars and improve Damascus’s security conditions.
According to the report, Syria’s Kurdish, Druze, Christian and Alawite groups expressed the greatest support for a peace treaty, following the Israel Defense Forces’ vow to protect minorities in the post-Assad era.
At the governorate, i.e., provincial, level, support was highest in the southern region of Quneitra, near Israel’s Golan Heights, where IDF ground forces have been operating since the December 2024 demise of the Assad regime.
During his first visit to Damascus on Thursday, U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack called for a non-aggression agreement between Damascus and Jerusalem, signaling a major regional diplomatic shift.
Barrack proposed the pact as a first step toward normalizing relations between Jerusalem and Damascus, following his meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the presidential palace, AFP reported.
“Syria and Israel is a solvable problem. But it starts with a dialogue,” he told a group of journalists, adding, “I’d say we need to start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders.”
Israel has not publicly responded to the proposal. While Israel and Syria remain technically at war, there have been intermittent discussions about reducing tensions, particularly along the Golan Heights.
