Why Netanyahu Rejects Peace with Syria and Lebanon: Redrawing Borders with US Support

Sykes-Picot border lines are meaningless

30 August 2025

By Elijah J. Magnier

Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly presented himself as the guarantor of Israel’s security, the man willing to confront threats where others waver. Yet when it comes to Syria and Lebanon, the Israeli prime minister has shown little appetite for normalisation. Instead, his policy is one of confrontation, entrenchment, and expansion. The reason is simple: peace would require Israel to give up territory it has occupied for decades, and Netanyahu — buoyed by a far-right coalition and full US support under Donald Trump — sees territorial enlargement, not compromise, as his legacy.

Many in Lebanon still fail to recognise that US diplomacy — including the missions of Washington’s special envoys — serves Israeli interests and nothing else, and Lebanon’s interest is insignificant. To believe otherwise is to cling to an illusion. The clearest proof came from U.S. Special envoy to Lebanon Barrack Thomas, who declared: “After the 7th of October, the world of Israel has changed. Where their borders, boundaries and lines have changed. For Israel’s safety, Sykes-Picot border lines are meaningless. They will go where they want, when they want, and do what they want to protect the Israelis and their borders.”