# Syrian minorities and the Israeli strikes

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Syrian minorities and the Israeli strikes," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/syrian-minorities-and-the-israeli-strikes/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*John Kiriakou's account of a conflict inside American policy toward post-Assad Syria: Washington wants the country's Christian, Jewish and Druze communities protected and has recognised the new government and moved to reopen its embassy, while Israel continues to strike Syrian territory despite repeated instructions from Donald Trump to stop.*

- **US aim:** Protection of minority communities, primarily Christian
- **Communities named:** Syrian Orthodox Christians, a small Jewish community, a large Druze community in the south-west
- **US steps:** Immediate recognition; embassy being reopened
- **The conflict:** Israeli strikes and ground incursions continuing despite Trump's objections

**Syrian minorities and the Israeli strikes** describes a contradiction [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) identified in July 2026 between what American policy says it wants in Syria and what it is willing to stop.

## The American position

American policy had been to force Bashar al-Assad from power. That happened; Assad fled to Moscow, where in Kiriakou's account he lives privately with as much as he could steal.[1]

The new president was one of the co-founders of ISIS and an al-Qaeda commander, was probably a CIA source and was definitely a Turkish intelligence source. The United States recognised his government immediately and set about reopening its embassy.[1]

What Washington wanted in return, under the Biden and Trump administrations alike, was the protection of Syria's minority communities, primarily the Christian ones. Kiriakou lists a large number of Syrian Orthodox Christians, a small remaining Jewish community, and a substantial Druze population in the south-west. The new president has promised to protect them and has had some trouble keeping the promise.[2]

## The strikes

On top of uprisings across the country and continuing fights with ISIS and other insurgents, the government has to worry about Israeli bombing and Israeli ground troops crossing the border.[2]

Kiriakou is explicit that [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump) has repeatedly told the Israelis to stop attacking Syria, and that they will not stop, just as they will not stop attacking Lebanon.[3] He credits Trump with being surprisingly consistent on the point, and describes him as simply not understanding why the Israelis are doing it, at least not on the scale at which they are doing it.[3]

## See also

- [Donald Trump](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/donald-trump)
- [Israel-United States relations](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/israel-united-states-relations)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 14:31. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=871s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/
2. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 15:02. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=902s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/
3. How to Avoid a Honey Trap: A Spy’s Guide to Seduction. | Ep. 2 (2026-07-16), at 15:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk7IWpbbMcU&t=933s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-07-16-john-kiriakou-how-to-avoid-a-honey-trap-a/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/syrian-minorities-and-the-israeli-strikes/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt