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 Egyptand 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.

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