In a scene unimaginable just months ago, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa strode into the White House this week, becoming the first Syrian leader to visit the United States. The arrival marked a stunning reversal of fortune for a man who, barely a year ago, led insurgent forces with a $10 million American bounty on his head. Now, he sits across from President Donald Trump not as a pariah, but as a potential partner in reshaping the Middle East’s fractured landscape.

Al-Sharaa’s transformation from jihadist commander to heaad of state represents one of the most dramatic political pivots in recent memory. Once known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, he spent years fighting US forces in Iraq and later led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an offshoot of al-Qaeda. He was imprisoned by American troops and designated a global terrorist in 2013. Yet in December 2024, his forces toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime in just eleven days, ending more than half a century of brutal authoritarian rule.

The pace of al-Sharaa’s rehabilitation has been breathtaking. Washington quietly removed his terrorist designation last year, and just days before his White House visit, the United Nations Security Council lifted sanctions against him and his interior minister. “This meeting symbolizses a complete reorientation,” said Lina Khatib, a Middle East analyst at Chatham House. “For years, the US sought to contain Syria. Now, the White House sees it as a partner — even an ally — in regional security.”

Trump has embraced the Syrian leader with characteristic enthusiasm, calling him “a tough guy in a tough neighbourhood” and praising his efforts to restore order. The administration waived sanctions under the Caesar Act and is now pushing Congress to permanently repeal them-a move that would open Syria to billions in reconstruction investment. With the World Bank estimating the cost of reconstruction at over $200 billion, the economic stakes could hardly be higher.

But the most consequential dimension of al-Sharaa’s Washington visit concerns not reconstruction but reconciliation—specifically, with Israel. Behind closed........

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