As Syrian Government-backed Islamist terrorists massacred roughly one thousand Druze and Christians in Suwayda, Southern Syria, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack denied Syrian regime forces were involved, complained about Israel defending the Druze from the terrorists, and earlier shook hands with former ISIS terrorist and new Syrian President Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani.
A commentary by Gateway Pundit Guest contributor Avi Abelow from Israel:
The world is watching, horrified but passive, as Sunni forces, some officially associated with the Jolani regime and others not, sweep through southern Syria, leaving trails of mass-executed Druze civilians in their wake in the area of Suwayda.
Among the victims are American citizens, who returned to visit family in Suwayda and Jabal al-Druze. Some were dragged from homes. Some were shot execution-style, recorded on videos, that have gone viral around the world. Eerily similar to the atrocities, and videos of pride, that the Iranian and Qatari supported Hamas terrorists did to Israel on Oct. 7th.
And yet, as these videos circulate online, Washington remains silent.
Why?
Because these atrocities are being committed by the very “Sunni forces”, supported by Turkey and Qatar, the U.S. is backing, under the watch of Trump’s pick, Ambassador and special envoy Tom Barrack, a former Ambassador to Turkey who has past business ties to Qatar.
If this atrocity against the Syrian Druze, Alawaites, and Christians continues, and if Trump fails to act to stop it, this could become his Benghazi, a moment of moral abandonment and geopolitical blindness that stains his legacy.
Tom Barrack must be replaced. Immediately.
Barrack’s policies have endangered the minorities in Syria, Druze American citizens, empowered Sunni jihadists with ties to ISIS and al-Qaeda, and weakened Israel’s ability to act against unfolding genocide.
If Trump wants to preserve his reputation as a president of moral clarity and America First, he must do what Obama never had the courage to do in Benghazi:
Stand with America’s allies. Stop the terrorists. And let Israel lead.
Even staunch Trump supporter Mark Levin is calling out the disaster in plain terms on his Twitter/X account:
“This guy Barrack strikes me as a fool. His friends in the Syrian regime, including ISIS veterans, are slaughtering Druze and other minorities. And he has the gall to condemn the Israeli government for ‘complicating’ matters?! This kind of bullsh*t public positioning gives aid and comfort to murderers. It incentivizes them. This fool should be fired.”
And again:
“I just watched a horrific video of a Syrian terrorist cutting the heart out of a Druze civilian as he was alive and defenseless! … Meanwhile, our envoy, Barrack, denounces the Israelis who are the only people trying to protect them.”
Levin is right. And the time to act is now.
Over the past week, multiple Druze community leaders from Syria have publicly called on Israel to not only defend their villages—but to liberate and remain in southern Syria.
One statement from a Druze elder in Suwayda reads:
“We ask the Israeli government: do not wait. We are your neighbors and your allies. We share blood. We beg you to stop the Sunni militias. Only you can prevent another massacre.”
Another, broadcast on a Druze community channel in Arabic, pleaded:
“Let Israel come. Let them take control if they must. We would rather live under Israeli protection than die under jihadist knives.”
And these pleas are not new.
Back in December 2024 Druze leaders from southern Syria pleaded: “We want to be annexed to the Israeli Golan to preserve our dignity … We want to join our people in the Golan and live with freedom and honor.”
They knew a massacre was coming, and they wanted to be protected. But Trump’s envoy Barrack has done everything to allow for their massacre.
Israel liberating Southern Syria is not occupation. This is liberation. This is moral clarity. And this is strategic alignment with persecuted, pro-Western minorities.
A strategic Israeli presence in southern Syria would do more than save Druze lives. It would also empower the persecuted Kurds, who have also been targeted by Sunni supremacists and Iranian militias alike.
- It would block Iran’s land corridor to Lebanon.
- It would neutralize Turkey and Qatar’s jihadist proxies, acting as part of their Islamic global jihad, ignored by Barrack and the Trump administration
- It would give America a loyal, local force protecting minority rights, without needing to deploy a single U.S. soldier.
This is what Trump’s “America First” policy is supposed to be about: strong, sovereign allies like Israel doing the hard work—so American blood and force doesn’t have to.
Yet somehow, Tom Barrack is pressuring Israel not to act.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly rebuked him:
“He doesn’t know the facts,” Katz said, after Barrack complained that Israeli strikes to protect Druze villages were “complicating” regional stability.
This isn’t stability. It’s genocide. And it’s being enabled by Washington.
We cannot allow this to be another Rwanda. Another Yazidi mountain crisis. Another Benghazi.
Israel is ready to act. It has already struck terror convoys, opened humanitarian corridors, and treated wounded Druze in its hospitals.
But it needs the diplomatic space and moral backing to go further.
Here’s What Must Happen Now:
- Replace Tom Barrack. He is dangerously unfit and morally compromised.
- Publicly back Israeli liberation operations in southern Syria.
- Establish a no-fly zone and humanitarian corridor for Druze, Alawite, Kurd and Christian refugees.
- Freeze all U.S. support to Sunni rebel factions, including those armed by Turkey and Qatar.
- Investigate Barrack’s financial entanglements with Gulf states and Turkey. The American people deserve to know who’s influencing our foreign policy.
- Reaffirm U.S. support for Israel and Kurdish autonomy, two bulwarks of Western values in the Middle East.7. Reimpose sanctions on Syria and Jolani’s terror group HTS
If the conservative movement turns its back on Israel, on the Druze, and on the truth, it won’t be Israel that falls. It will be the fall of the moral foundation of the West and a jihadi win in its global jihadi agenda.
Because this is not about foreign aid or Middle East “complexities.”
This is about right and wrong and protecting the world against the genocidal jihadi death cult advancing in the West as well.
This is about preventing genocide, defending minorities, and choosing truth over tribalism, values over vacuous talking points.
Trump has a choice: be the man who stopped another Middle East genocide. Or let Tom Barrack turn his legacy into Benghazi 2.0.
History is watching.
And Israel? Israel will do what it always does—stand alone if it must, defend the innocent, and tell the truth, no matter the cost.
But how tragic if it must do so without the full support of the Trump administration, the one ally committed, in words, to lead differently than previous administrations.
The post Avi Abelow: Is Syria Trump’s Benghazi in the Making? appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.