Q&A | Rabbi Abraham Cooper to Visit Damascus as Trump Says He’ll Lift Sanctions on Syria

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Rev. Johnnie Moore, co-founder and president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, are planning a visit to Damascus at the invitation of Syria’s foreign minister to assess the transitional government’s treatment of minorities. The trip comes amid a dramatic shift in U.S. policy following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Just yesterday, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to lift all sanctions on Syria—a break from decades of policy. Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at a summit in Riyadh, urging him to join the Abraham Accords and normalize ties with Israel.

Cooper and Moore say their mission—independent of the U.S. government—is guided by a 15-point framework focused on religious freedom and postwar recovery. Speaking from Jerusalem, Cooper answered five questions from Moment about the purpose and risks of their initiative.

What steps are you taking to ensure the trip doesn’t just polish Syria’s image but actually helps vulnerable communities such as the Druze, Christians and Alawites?
That’s exactly our concern. We’re not in this for the optics. We’ve made it clear to all sides that these projects only move forward if they are meaningful and if they reach the people who need help most.

Syria has endured two Assads, a civil war, mass displacement and mass disappearances. It’s a country in profound trauma. Whoever runs Syria will need help rebuilding—but that can’t come without accountability.

Rev. Moore and I are not politicians, but we are people of faith and public responsibility. This initiative is ours. We’re not waiting for a government to tell us what to do. We expect to travel to Damascus in the coming weeks.

“The Druze ethic is: wherever you live, be loyal to the state. In Israel, they have given everything—including their lives.”

What would you say to American Jews about why they should care about the fate of the Druze?
We Jews pride ourselves on memory—but sometimes we forget the most important things. I’ve visited the widow of a Druze police officer who was killed while stopping a terror attack on a synagogue in West Jerusalem. He saved lives.

At Ziv Medical Center near Safed, which treated wounded Syrians during the civil war, the director—himself a Druze Israeli—gathered the local community to reassure them their care wouldn’t suffer. He quoted the sages: You must help everyone, but start with the poor of your own community.

During the recent wildfires that destroyed tens of thousands of dunams of land between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, a firefighter was photographed rescuing a Sephardic Torah scroll from a burning synagogue. He, too, was Druze.

These are people who serve in the IDF and live the values of the state. The Druze ethic is: wherever you live, be loyal to the state. In Israel, they have given everything—including their lives.

And in the Golan, you have families just 12 miles apart—some in Syria, some in Israel. They can see each other, but for decades couldn’t even visit without Red Cross mediation.

So yes, Jews in America should care. This isn’t charity—it’s reciprocity. It’s an ethical responsibility. If you’re sitting in Damascus right now and want to show you’re serious about reform, protecting the Druze isn’t optional—it’s non-negotiable.

You began organizing this trip before Trump’s Riyadh announcement. Has the purpose changed in light of these new developments?
Not really. Our concept remains consistent. These ideas are for verifiable, sustainable humanitarian projects. We’re not looking to validate anyone. The goal is to help people in need and test whether there’s more than just a shift in tone [with the new al-Sharaa government].

We emphasized that these projects would need to be free from corruption and involve regional neighbors—Jordan, Lebanon, Israel.

Another key focus is engagement with ethnic and religious minorities: Kurds, Christians, Jews. We want to meet with some of their leaders, hear their perspectives and understand their needs. This is something Rev. Moore and I feel deeply about, especially given our backgrounds with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

[READ: “Washington Signals Thaw with Syria; Druze in Israel and Syria Sound the Alarm”]

How do you see your role—as religious leaders—in shaping conversations about minority rights and reconciliation in a country where so much harm has come from sectarianism and state repression?
There are definitely political implications in how Syrian leaders respond to our proposals. But the starting point is trust—trust among Syrians, and between Syria and the broader world.

We see these projects as modest but meaningful gestures. I’ve spoken to seasoned diplomats who still feel burned by what happened in Afghanistan. The Taliban promised reforms, sanctions were lifted, and the promises collapsed.

That’s what we want to avoid. The projects we’re exploring—medical, water, agricultural—need to be measurable and transparent.

How do you interpret the recent announcement of the lifting of U.S. sanctions and Trump’s call for Syria to join the Abraham Accords?
It’s a bold move. It gives Syria’s leaders a chance to prove they can govern for all Syrians. But it’s not a blank check. Every dollar must be vetted and verified.

That’s why Secretary Rubio’s role is key—he’ll be overseeing not just diplomacy but USAID and other mechanisms of oversight. This has to be a process where each step is documented and accountable.

Rev. Moore and I aren’t looking for symbolic victories or photo ops. If something positive can come out of this, great. If not, we’ll still have tried. This effort wasn’t launched by any government—it came from the right place. And just for full disclosure: I have two daughters, eight grandchildren, and a great-grandson in Israel. I’m a Zionist. People around the world know who I am. No disguises, no secrets.

Sanctions or no sanctions, what matters now is whether words lead to real action.

Top image: Rabbi Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in a screengrab from a 2024 talk, “Promoting Jewish Rights Globally.”