Israeli PM Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday rejected a Saudi media report alleging that Bibi refused to sign a U.S.-brokered security agreement with Syria, dismissing the story as “fake news” and insisting no such deal was ever on the table.

The report, published Monday by the Saudi outlet Asharq al-Awsat, claimed unnamed sources said U.S. mediation had brought Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa together for a meeting during September’s UN General Assembly in New York. According to the report, those talks advanced far enough that Netanyahu declined to endorse a draft security arrangement with Damascus.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued an unequivocal rebuttal. “There were contacts and meetings organized by the U.S., but no agreements and understandings with Syria were ever reached,” the PMO said, calling the Saudi account flatly false.

If the meeting took place, it would have been historic — Sharaa’s appearance at the UNGA marked the first time a Syrian leader attended the gathering since 1967. In his address, Sharaa accused Israel of obstructing global efforts to stabilize the region, saying Israeli policy “runs counter to the world’s support for Syria” and risks triggering “a whirlwind of new conflicts.”

Sharaa has repeatedly suggested that diplomatic progress is underway. In a November interview with The Washington Post, he said that Syria was engaged in “direct negotiations” with Israel, asserting that talks had traveled “a good distance” toward an agreement. He also laid out a core Syrian demand: that Israel withdraw to its pre–December 8 borders, referring to the date marking the collapse of the Assad regime and the beginning of expanded Israeli military activity in Syria.

Over the weekend, speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar, Sharaa escalated his rhetoric, accusing Israel of weaponizing its security concerns after October 7. “Israel has become a country that is in a fight against ghosts,” he said, claiming Israeli officials distort the threat landscape to justify operations across the region. He further alleged that Israel exports its crises “to other countries” to avoid accountability for what he called “the horrifying massacres committed in Gaza.”

The PMO’s denial underscores the political sensitivity of any suggestion that Netanyahu, deeply entrenched in conflict on multiple fronts, was quietly considering a security pact with Syria’s post-Assad leadership. The U.S. has not publicly commented on the report.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)