Israel sees Sykes-Picot borders as 'meaningless', US envoy Tom Barrack says

Israel is not interested in adhering to the Middle East's established borders set by the WWI Sykes-Picot agreement and has the “capacity or the desire” to take over Lebanon and Syria, according to US special envoy Tom Barrack.

Barrack made the assessment in an astonishing and candid interview with online personality Mario Nawfal, which went online late on Thursday. It was just one of many insights that Barrack, who is at the centre of US diplomacy in the region, shared.

In addition, he said that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa will not sign the Abraham Accords with Israel and alluded to deeply strained ties between Egypt and Israel, which he said are no longer “talking to each other or cooperating”.

Barrack is the US ambassador to Turkey but has become Trump’s envoy to the wider Eastern Mediterranean and the Caucasus.

A billionaire real estate investor, Barrack, like his boss at the White House, has chaffed at the traditional US foreign policy establishment - including its preference for maintaining quiet ties with American establishment media. Instead, he has given shoot-from-the-hip style interviews.

On Thursday, he called himself an “events-driven mercenary”.

“What’s going on in Gaza makes the rest of the Arab world totally freaked out,” Barrack said.

“In Israel’s mind, these lines that were created by Sykes-Picot are meaningless. They will go where they want, when they want, and do what they want to protect the Israelis and their borders,” Barrack said.

The Sykes-Picot agreement was a secret agreement between Britain and France struck in 1916 during WWI that divided the Ottoman Empire’s territories in the Levant, fashioning the modern states of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Mandatory Palestine, the wide swath of land that was later partitioned to create Israel.

'Israel can't be so brutal'

Barrack visited Beirut this week as part of efforts to disarm Hezbollah and has been mediating talks between Syria and Israel.

Pressed on whether Israel would conquer Lebanon or Syria, Barrack said he did not mean Israel wants to “take over” its neighbours, but will act against its foes.

'Can Sharaa go to the Abraham Accords? No way. He has a backing of Sunni fundamentalists'

- Tom Barrack, US envoy

“Does Israel have the capacity or the desire to really take over Lebanon? Absolutely. Why didn’t they do it? They have the capacity to do the same thing in Syria,” he said.

“The idea that Israel is really interested in keeping everybody off balance so that they can have more control and command, in my opinion, just as an individual, is ludicrous,” he said.

Barrack is attempting to mediate a deal by which Hezbollah surrenders its heavy weaponry to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). Lebanon wants Israel to withdraw from the south of the country, and for reconstruction funds to flow in from the oil-rich Gulf as part of this deal. 

Israel severely degraded Hezbollah in battle following the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel. In November, Hezbollah was resigned to sign a lopsided ceasefire with Israel, which it has used to bomb Lebanon at will without Hezbollah retaliation. 

Israeli forces withdrew from much of southern Lebanon earlier this year, but still occupy five hilltops in the south.

Barrack, whose grandparents emigrated to the US from Lebanon, said he made a personal appeal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting this week, as a man with “Lebanese blood”.

“I’m asking you [Netanyahu] to do something that I know will do you well, and do Jews all over the world well. Give Lebanon a break…give them a whiff of tolerance. You can’t be apparently so brutal on everybody, going anywhere, anytime you want… it's gonna backfire on you.”

Barrack said Netanyahu agreed, but did not provide specifics. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed by an Israeli drone on Thursday. Israel apologised for the strike, calling it a "technical malfunction". 

Disarming Hezbollah

Israel says it wants to see Hezbollah disarmed before it withdraws from Lebanese territory and ends its attacks. Analysts and regional diplomats tell Middle East Eye that Hezbollah is unlikely to give up its arms under Israeli fire. 

The US has been supporting the non-sectarian LAF as a counterweight to Hezbollah. But in the interview, Barrack ruled out the LAF forcibly disarming Hezbollah.

'You can’t just say, ‘We want to disarm Hezbollah.’ Most people have AK-47s or .50 calibre machine guns at home'

- Tom Barrack, US envoy

“There is not going to be a LAF military movement to go blow them (Hezbollah) away,” he said.

Barrack said this week that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are willing to invest in Lebanon’s reconstruction, including in the south, where Hezbollah has traditionally relied on support among Lebanon’s Shia community.

Lebanon was ravaged by a civil war between 1975 and 1990, which pitted Christian, Druze and Muslim militias against each other, including the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.

Hezbollah was born out of resistance to Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation of southern Lebanon. With Iranian arms and training, it emerged as one of the world’s most powerful non-state actors. Iran has resisted efforts to disarm Hezbollah, and many regional diplomats say the group is unlikely to surrender its weapons without approval from Tehran.

Hezbollah is one of two main parties, along with Amal, representing Lebanon’s Shia community. Barrack has courted the 89-year-old leader of Amal, Nabih Berri, who is also Lebanon’s speaker of parliament, as he pushes to disarm Hezbollah.

“We need him. He is the voice and the power not just to the Amal party, but to the Shia community,” Barrack said.

Hezbollah is designated a US terror organisation. However, Barrack has made overtures to the group in his public statements. 

“Hezbollah is part of the Lebanese world. You can’t just say, ‘We want to disarm Hezbollah.’ Everybody is armed…everybody is carrying a .357 magnum. Most people have AK-47s or .50 calibre machine guns at home…this is not an environment where you are going to disarm small arms,” Barrack said.

Syria not joining Abraham Accords

He also said that Israel’s recent strikes on Syria - in what it framed as the defence of Druze - have made convincing Hezbollah to give up its arms more difficult because, “Hezbollah is saying we are the last stop for you against Israel and maybe Syria.”

“After Sweida, that argument has become even more impactive (sic) because the Lebanese community is saying, ‘Wow, Israel just blew through the line’…[and] we have a jihadist who may not love Shias,” he said.

Israel invaded a swath of southwestern Syria after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in late 2024. This week, Israel said it would continue to occupy Syria’s Mount Hermon. It also launched air strikes and a ground raid near Damascus.

'The Lebanese community is saying, ‘Wow, Israel just blew through the line’…[and] we have a jihadist who may not love Shias'

- Tom Barrack, US envoy

Barrack has been mediating direct talks between Syria and Israel, which Damascus acknowledged publicly for the first time last month.

Barrack described Syrian President Sharaa as a “pragmatist” and said the two countries' engagement was “so good”, but curbed expectations for a wider diplomatic deal.

“Can he go to the Abraham Accords? No way. He has a backing of Sunni fundamentalists,” he said.

Barrack was accused of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the UAE during Trump’s first term in office. In the interview, he alluded to “introducing” Trump to leaders in the Gulf, which contributed to the Abraham Accords.

Barrack worked as an attorney in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s, enjoys close ties to UAE ambassador Yousef Otaiba, and has struck business deals with Qatar, including selling its sovereign wealth fund the Paris Saint-Germain football club.

Barrack said Lebanon had to engage in a broader dialogue with Israel or “We are going to evaporate as a dinosaur,” referring to his Lebanese origins.

Lebanon and Israel do not have diplomatic relations, but signed an Armistice Agreement in 1949. They have a longstanding dispute over their border, referred to as the Blue-Line. 

“You're talking sometimes two kilometres or four kilometres,” he said, referring to the line of demarcation.

“So it’s what size pen drew the green line and the blue line and the red line. You could lose your mind over this, honestly, but people are losing lives over this, which again to me is amazement…who cares?” he said.