Israel is wary of Trump envoy Tom Barrack, seen in Jerusalem as too close to Erdogan and focused on integrating Syria into the region; Officials say a war with Turkey is unlikely but warn tensions must not spiralBarrack responded to the strike in relatively strong terms. He said it carried a “real risk” of a rapid escalation and a direct confrontation between Israel and Turkey and Syria, and warned that the lack of communication between the sides could have led to a mistaken Turkish response. He said the United States is now working to establish a mechanism to prevent friction between Israel, Syria and Turkey.GalleryTom Barrack (Photo: AP)But Jerusalem sees the incident differently. The Prime Minister’s Office said Syria had ignored Israeli warnings about the possibility of Turkish forces being deployed at the base and that the strike was intended to prevent a change in the security balance on the ground. According to reports, the attack involved eight strikes that hit the base’s runway and storage facilities.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the strike himself, saying: “We will not tolerate a Turkish military presence moving south. Because it threatens us, and we made that clear in general terms. We saw that Turkey intended to establish a presence at an airfield south of its line, near Aleppo. And we sent a message — don’t. The message got through, but apparently they didn’t hear it. So we made sure they understood.”In Israel, officials believe the main concern is not only Barrack’s statements but also the worldview he brings with him, according to which Turkey, and particularly its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, occupies a central place in shaping the regional order.“Barrack is considered someone who promotes Erdogan’s interests and those of the Syrian regime in the United States,” said an Israeli official familiar with Israel-Turkey relations. “He is not sensitive to Israeli sensitivities. He is focused on the immediate benefit the United States can gain from Syria.”The senior official added: “Netanyahu doesn’t like Barrack because he thinks Barrack is behind Trump’s support for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and connects him to Erdogan.”There is disagreement in Israel over how much real influence Barrack has over Trump. On one hand, he is one of the president’s closest associates of several decades. Barrack was close to Trump long before entering government and over the years served as a point of contact for him with the Arab world and Gulf officials.On the other hand, officials in Jerusalem stress that a personal relationship does not necessarily translate into influence over decision-making. Israeli officials say that “it is not at all clear how much he influences Trump. He certainly doesn’t influence Rubio.” As evidence, they point out that after Barrack condemned the strike on the air base, neither Trump nor the State Department issued a condemnation.Senior Western diplomats, however, paint a different picture and believe Trump sees Barrack as his point man on Turkish and Syrian affairs. In their view, the fact that Trump entrusted him simultaneously with the ambassadorship in Ankara and the special envoy role for Syria is evidence of the degree of trust he places in him.Barrack with Syrian President Ahmed al-SharaaThe gap between Barrack and Jerusalem became apparent with Ahmed al-Sharaa’s rise to power in Damascus. Israel initially had serious concerns about the new American approach toward the Syrian leadership, which is supported to a large extent by Turkey. Trump himself met with al-Sharaa and promoted a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Damascus. Barrack became one of the key architects of contacts between Israel, Syria and Turkey.But during those contacts, it became clear that Barrack was not seeking only to prevent a war between Israel and Syria. He was promoting a broader vision: integrating Syria into the regional system, economic reconstruction, strengthening ties with Turkey and reducing the American and Israeli military presence as much as possible.Barrack has also previously described the conflict between Israel and Syria as a “solvable problem” and called for beginning with a nonaggression agreement. Israel, by contrast, wants to ensure that the new arrangement does not turn Syria into a Turkish client state or allow Ankara to build military infrastructure that would threaten Israel’s freedom of action.One of the statements that particularly worsened relations between Barrack and Israel came in December 2025 at a forum in Doha. Barrack said that “Israel can claim that it is a democracy,” but added that in the region, what “worked best,” in his words, was a “benevolent monarchy.”The remarks caused an uproar in Israel and were understood in Jerusalem as an unusual slight to the country’s democratic character. The statement did not remain at an academic level. It became a symbol of how Barrack is viewed in Israel — an American diplomat willing to look at the region through the prism of “what works,” even when that conclusion clashes with fundamental Israeli perceptions.Barak meets with Prime Minister Netanyahu in 2025