“I told him, ‘Why don’t you give New Jersey to the Israelis?’” al-Sharaa said. “The Golan is not yours so that you can give it to them, but New Jersey is yours.”By World Israel News StaffSyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Syria came close to reaching a security agreement with Israel before Jerusalem backed away, while calling on Israel to change its approach toward his country and suggesting that a successful deal could eventually open the door to broader peace talks.Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly Tuesday night, al-Sharaa said his government had chosen diplomacy rather than confrontation and had sought assistance from countries with close ties to Israel, including the United States.He said several rounds of negotiations had already taken place between the two sides.“We almost reached a 90% agreement,” al-Sharaa said. “But at that point, Israel withdrew from the agreement for various reasons that it presented.”The Syrian leader said completing such an arrangement in the future could allow the two countries to move on to discussions over a more lasting peace.Israel and Syria have held contacts in recent months aimed primarily at reaching security understandings rather than a full peace agreement. The talks have unfolded as Israel seeks guarantees that the upheaval in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad will not produce a new threat along its northern border.Israel has repeatedly made clear that, particularly in the aftermath of the October 7 massacre, it is unwilling to rely solely on assurances when hostile armed groups could potentially establish themselves close to Israeli communities.The IDF has carried out operations in Syria, striking weapons and military infrastructure it considers a potential threat and deploying forces beyond the previous separation line near the Golan Heights. Israeli leaders have also demanded the demilitarization of southern Syria and vowed to prevent hostile forces from establishing a military presence near the border.Al-Sharaa, meanwhile, has repeatedly said his government does not seek war with Israel and has presented negotiations as the preferred way to resolve the dispute.Asked by journalist Barak Ravid about Israeli concerns regarding Syria following the October 7 massacre, al-Sharaa acknowledged the impact of the Hamas-led attack but argued that Israel should not allow it to dictate its broader regional policy.“I understand what happened on October 7 for some of the innocent people,” al-Sharaa said. “But at the same time, it is not possible for all policy to be determined based on an incident that occurred in history, because at the same time we must also understand what happened in Gaza, where more than 70,000 people were killed.”Israel has taken a markedly different view, with its leaders repeatedly citing October 7 as proof of the dangers of allowing heavily armed hostile forces to build up immediately across its borders.Al-Sharaa argued that applying those concerns to Syria was counterproductive and could ultimately generate additional security threats.He then criticized Israeli military activity inside Syria.“Indiscriminate arrests are being carried out inside Syria,” he said. “Even the presidential palace was bombed twice by the Israeli military. Our airports are being bombed, as are all of our military airports. Will this bring security to the Israeli citizen?”Israel has defended its operations as necessary to prevent weapons and hostile forces from threatening its territory during a period of considerable uncertainty over Syria’s future. Israeli officials have also intervened militarily during violence involving Syria’s Druze minority, saying they would not permit attacks on the community or the deployment of threatening forces in southern Syria.Despite the sharp disagreements, contacts between Jerusalem and Damascus have continued, and al-Sharaa has previously indicated that a security arrangement could serve as a first step toward a fundamentally different relationship between the two countries.One of the most difficult long-term disputes remains the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and applied Israeli law to in 1981. The territory has considerable strategic importance for Israel, overlooking communities in northern Israel and providing a buffer from instability in Syria. The United States recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan during President Donald Trump’s first term, while Damascus continues to claim the territory.Al-Sharaa recounted a joke he said he made to Trump during a White House visit over the US recognition.“I told him, ‘Why don’t you give New Jersey to the Israelis?’” al-Sharaa said. “The Golan is not yours so that you can give it to them, but New Jersey is yours.”“I believe New Jersey is full of Democrats and they don’t vote for Trump, so it would be good to give it to the Israelis,” he added.Al-Sharaa then struck a more serious tone, insisting that no individual leader has the authority to relinquish Syria’s claim to the territory.“The Golan Heights belongs to its people, and it is not up to the president of Syria, the president of the United States or anyone else to give it up or hand it over to others,” he said.The post Syrian president claims Israel backed away from ‘90%’ security deal appeared first on World Israel News.