US president, who signed off on bill lifting Assad-era penalties Thursday, said to have offered ‘compensation’ to Jerusalem, which had hoped to use sanctions relief as bargaining chip

Aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked US President Donald Trump to retain some American sanctions on Syria as he prepared to repeal them last week, in the hope that they could be used as a bargaining chip in future negotiations, but the request was refused, according to a Hebrew media report.

The Kan public broadcaster reported Saturday that close contacts of Netanyahu placed heavy pressure on those in the Trump administration who were responsible for the Syria file to maintain some of the sanctions imposed over former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s human rights abuses.

Appeals were made to a number of senior officials, the report said, including US Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law.

The US Congress imposed the so-called Caesar Act sanctions on Syria’s government and financial system in 2019 to punish Assad for abuses during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war that began in 2011.

After Assad was ousted a year ago, advocates for repeal argued that the sanctions were preventing international investors from launching reconstruction projects and blocking Syria from rebuilding its battered economy and infrastructure.

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