BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday banned official visits to Syria by ministers — and was immediately defied by a Hezbollah member of his Cabinet.
Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan said he would accept an invitation to attend the Damascus International Fair this month in an official capacity.
“I will attend the opening of the Damascus exhibition and I will meet with our fellow ministers there,” he said.
Earlier, Hariri had reminded a Cabinet meeting that they were “a national unity government” and should distance themselves from regional conflicts. For that reason, he said, any “Lebanese ministerial visit to Syria in the name of the government” would be refused.
The Syrian regime has invited several Lebanese ministers to the Damascus event, which begins on Aug. 17 and is aimed at “rebuilding Syria.” They include Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh, a known opponent of the Assad regime.
Information Minister Melhem Riachy said after the Cabinet meeting: “Prime Minister Hariri was clear about the disassociation policy and distancing ourselves from regional conflicts and axes. The visit of any minister to Syria will be on a personal level and not in the name of the government.”
The invitations from Damascus have led to the re-emergence of internal Lebanese political polarization over the Syrian regime.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said after a meeting of MPs at his home: “There are diplomatic relations and agreements between Lebanon and Syria, and recent events prove that communication and cooperation is normal and in the interest of both countries.”
But the Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said: “This government was formed on a clear basis, which is to put aside the differences and focus on people’s concerns. There has been a violation of the agreement on the basis of which the government was formed, for instance, Hassan Nasrallah lashing out at Gulf states.
“We were surprised by some ministers suggesting official visits to Syria.
“Is Syria’s reconstruction possible when a political solution has failed to be reached so far? What happened today is an attempt to give political impetus to the Syrian regime.”
Geagea said his group would “not accept any formal dealings between the Lebanese government and the so-called Syrian government as it will harm Lebanon and its ties with Arab countries.
“Any minister who desires to visit Syria can do so in his personal capacity and not as a formal commissioner sent by the Lebanese government. Governments such as Turkey and Jordan found solutions for the refugee crisis without communicating with the Syrian regime.”
Syrian regime’s invite creates rift in Lebanon’s ‘unity government’
Syrian regime’s invite creates rift in Lebanon’s ‘unity government’
New poll shows only 6% of Arabs accept recognizing Israel
- Reasons ‘mainly linked to its colonial, racist, and expansionist nature’
- More than 40,000 people in 15 Arab countries surveyed on wide range of issues
CHICAGO: Eighty-seven percent of citizens in the Arab world oppose recognition of Israel while only 6 percent accept it, according to a new survey by the Arab Center Washington DC.
The 2025 Arab Opinion Index, conducted nine times since 2011, surveyed more than 40,000 people in 15 Arab countries on a wide range of issues including politics, economy and identity.
“An overwhelming majority … oppose recognition of Israel,” Tamara Kharroub, deputy executive director and senior fellow at the ACW, said during a live webinar on Tuesday attended by Arab News.
That finding has been consistent and within range in every poll conducted since 2014, according to the center’s polling data.
The 15 countries surveyed are Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Tunisia.
The highest rates of opposition to recognizing Israel were recorded in Libya (96 percent), Jordan (95 percent), Kuwait (94 percent) and Palestine (91 percent).
A conclusion cited in the poll said: “Those who opposed recognizing Israel cited various factors, mainly linked to its colonial, racist, and expansionist nature and its continued occupation of Palestinian territory. Cultural or religious explanations were largely absent.
“The reasons cited by respondents clearly indicated that their position on recognizing Israel is not likely to change as long as its colonial nature persists.”
Kharroub said the number that accept recognition of Israel “dropped by 2 percentage points in the 2025 Arab Opinion Index, compared to the 2022 survey.”
She added of those 6 percent, “half made such a move conditional on the formation of an independent Palestinian state.”
Yousef Munayyer, ACW’s head of the Palestine / Israel Program and senior fellow, said: “Israel continues to be widely perceived as a threat and not a partner. This is something that has only been escalated in recent years.”
He added: “Normalization lacks popular legitimacy, not just because of the lack of support for it among Arab public opinion, but also because the threat perception in the region has changed significantly over the last several years, and that’s perhaps one of the most important developments since the genocide in Gaza began.”
Seventy percent oppose a peace deal between Syria and Israel that does not include the return of the Syrian Golan Heights.
Other findings include the broader public view that despite different nationalities, 76 percent of respondents see the Arab world as being a “single nation” or an “Arab nation.”
The full survey report can be viewed at www.ArabCenterDC.org.
