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Syria is becoming friendlier to the United States and Israel under its new regime, according to a new survey revealing an uptick in favorable views among Syrians towards the two countries.
Two-thirds of Syrians — 65% — view US engagement in the country positively, compared to 12% who disapprove, while the rest are undecided or neutral, according to the YouGov poll commissioned by the Council for a Secure America.
In another stunner, 59% of respondents said peace with Israel is likely in the future, compared to 14% who said it’s unlikely and the remainder undecided or neutral.
Meanwhile, 64% of Syrians surveyed support a security arrangement with Israel, while only 9% and the remaining 30% neutral or had no opinion.
A plurality, 47%, support normalization with Israel after a Palestine resolution, 13% were opposed and a significant 40% said they were on the fence, according to the results.
Another eye-popping statistic: 70% of Syrians described Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah as having a negative impact on the country.
Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had close ties to Hezbollah and Iran.
There’s also good news for new Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa — 69% of residents gave him a “good” performance rating compared to 12% who rated him poorly and 19% were on the fence.
The survey questioned 260 Syrians age 18 and older from an active panel of 40,000 members during January 8 to 15. The margin of error is plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The Trump administration has strongly supported Syria’s new president, Sharaa, despite being a former member of al-Qaeda.
His government has worked to secure control over Syria after its successful overthrow of predecessor Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
But US forces are still actively trying to rid the region of ISIS.
The US military conducted large-scale airstrikes against multiple ISIS targets in Syria — capturing or killing 50 ISIS terrorists — in the continued retaliation for the killing of two US soldiers, authorities announced on Saturday.
Elsewhere, in Lebanon, 63% of respondents support efforts to disarm Hezbollah while only 9% were opposed and the rest undecided, according to another YouGov poll.
Moreover, 52% of Syrians said the terror group is hurting Lebanon’s security, another indication of Iran’s declining influence in the region, the Council for a Secure America said.
Only 11% of respondents had a positive view of Hezbollah and more than one-third had no opinion.
But unlike Syrians, more Lebanese view the US negatively rather than positively — 39% vs. 27%. About one-third have no opinion, the survey revealed.
Asked how likely or unlikely it is that there will be peace between Israel and Lebanon in the future, 40% of respondents said likely, compared to 24% who said unlikely and the remainder neutral.
Only about one-quarter of Lebanese respondents supported normalization of the relationship with Israel after the Palestinian-Israel conflict is settled, far lower support than in Syria.
The poll of 252 Lebanese adults last month also has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points, chosen from 80,000 active panel members.
“Council for a Secure America polls demonstrate that Syrian and Lebanese public opinion continues to gravitate away from Hezbollah. While Israeli normalization is not yet on the horizon, we are seeing significant shifts in Syria, with a majority believing that eventual peace with Israel is possible,” said Jennifer Suton, executive director of Council for a Secure America.
“These trends provide an opportunity for the U.S. to reinforce traditional geopolitical partners, weaken proxy forces, promote peace and stability, and discourage external entities from destabilizing the region. We remain cautiously hopeful, but ever-clear-eyed, as historic developments in the Middle East unfold,” she added.
The Council for Secure America is a pro-energy group that supports strong US-Israel ties and the Abraham Accords. It also supports American energy independence.
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