‘He’s a Unicorn’: Rabbi Cooper Describes Syria’s Islamist President With a Twist
Rabbi Abraham Cooper reflects on his unexpected visit to Damascus and his impressions of President Ahmed al-Sharaa as both Islamist and reform-minded
When Rabbi Abraham Cooper walked the streets of Damascus during a recent trip, it was a moment few in his community could have imagined.
Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and a longtime human rights advocate, traveled to Syria with the Rev. Johnny Moore to meet President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Cooper discussed the trip, which has garnered global attention.
“I grew up with Syrian Jews in Brooklyn,” Cooper recalled. “Their parents fled Assad Senior or were pretty much thrown out. Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think that in my lifetime I would be walking the streets of Damascus.”
The rabbi’s visit comes at a critical moment for Syria. The country has been ravaged by more than a decade of civil war, fragmented power, and international isolation.
Yet the critical moment corresponded with an astonishing series of events that began with Cooper’s meeting Syria with Foreign Minister outside the United Nations, followed by an invitation to Damascus and culminating in a two-hour conversation with the country’s new president.
Cooper described President al-Sharaa in striking terms. “He’s a unicorn,” the rabbi said. “He’s an unabashed Islamist, but he’s also an Islamist who walks with his wife in public, who’s trying to de-conflict with Israel, who engages in disagreement without shutting down the conversation.”
The meeting left an impression of a leader who is at once shaped by his ideological commitments and yet pragmatic. Also, he is aware that after six months in office, he must begin delivering results to a population deeply scarred by war.
“This is a country exhausted from the Assads,” Cooper observed. “Tens of thousands of families don’t know what happened to their loved ones. That’s not sustainable.”
Cooper proposed a DNA-based humanitarian project, modeled on the work of Father Patrick Desbois in Ukraine and Iraq, to help Syrians identify the remains of missing relatives. The initiative, he said, would heal those affected by the violence of the past and signal a shift in the regime’s attitude toward victims and their families.
Cooper also recommended cooperation with Israelis to assist with basic needs, such as water and agriculture.
“There’s a signal in that,” he explained. “And it’s a way of showing everyone in Syria that things can begin to change.”
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Cooper was careful to emphasize that, while visiting Syria, he was not representing any specific government. “We’re not diplomats. We’re not representing a state. But sometimes people like us—faith leaders—can help create momentum and open doors,” he said.
Still, the political implications of the visit were clear. Al-Sharaa’s apparent openness to engaging with Israel, or at least to removing it from Syria’s enemies list, is a notable departure from past rhetoric. Cooper recounted the Hebrew phrase kabdehu v’chashdehu—”respect and suspect”—as a guiding principle.
“You need to verify,” he said. “But if the possibility exists for a better future, even a small one, you owe it to the people of Syria and Israel to test that path.”
Cooper believes that Israel should consider increasing its engagement with Syria on a measured basis. “It would be a mistake not to engage,” he said. “I know that Israel has already begun limited engagement, but it makes sense to raise that somewhat.”
The key player, he added, would be US President Donald Trump. “If you want to move from the local train to the express train, the only person who can make that happen is President Trump,” Cooper said.
He pointed to reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Trump to help facilitate engagement with Syria and suggested that a tripartite meeting between Trump, Netanyahu, and al-Sharaa could be a game-changer.
Asked whether Syria could become part of the Abraham Accords, Cooper was cautious but not dismissive of the idea. “It’s not a priority for him [al-Sharaa] right now,” he said. “But if he and Bibi are in a room in the White House with Trump—who knows?”
Still, there are serious concerns about the extent of al-Sharaa’s control over his own country. Syria remains fragmented, with reports of resurgent Islamic State cells, Iranian and Russian influence, and armed groups across its territory. “We don’t know to what extent this government can control all of Syria,” Cooper acknowledged.
That uncertainty didn’t stop him from walking around Damascus with a skullcap—something he noted would not be possible in Saudi Arabia. “We had security from the government and also hired our own,” he said. “At every other block, you saw men with AK-47s and extra clips. However, people were going to school and shopping. Life was happening.”
Cooper and Moore also met with 15 senior Christian leaders from across Syria, many of whom had visited Jerusalem. He noted the Christian community is “still very concerned” and “has more questions than answers.” Their treatment, he argued, will be an essential litmus test for the country’s direction.
“How a country treats its religious minorities is a good way to judge its health and future,” he said.
Returning to the proposed DNA project, Cooper highlighted the human cost of Syria’s past. He also raised the issue of the remains of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, whose last letter to his wife was recently released to his family. “We’d like to bring his remains home,” Cooper said.
He also confirmed that he and Moore raised the issue of missing and murdered American journalists, including Austin Tice, Steven Sotloff, and James Foley. “We didn’t get answers,” Cooper said. “But they must know people who know. This needs to stay at the top of the list.”
He added that the return of remains would be a signal to the world—and especially to the United States—that Syria is serious about change. Cooper linked this effort to a broader shift in American policy, crediting Trump with lifting sanctions despite opposition from nearly all of his advisers.
“The only reason we ended up going was because President Trump, against the advice of every single advisor, decided to lift the sanctions,” he said.
The next steps, Cooper suggested, could hinge on US engagement. “If the US doesn’t play a role, then Syria becomes a pawn of the power players—Russia, Iran, Turkey, China, and Doha. But if the US is in, it changes the equation.”
Throughout the conversation, Cooper struck a careful balance: He remains wary of al-Sharaa’s background and ideology but believes engagement is a moral and strategic imperative.
“Look, he’s not denying who he is,” Cooper said. “He’s an Islamist, but he’s also signaling a different brand. He speaks publicly about rebuilding society and respecting religious groups. We’ll see who he appoints to the education sector. We’ll see if anything changes in the curriculum. That’ll tell us something.”
He also noted that people, not politicians, make real peace. “Treaties are signed by governments. But people make peace,” he said. “And people-to-people projects—like shared water infrastructure or identifying the dead—are real. Those build trust.”
That’s why Cooper views his visit not as a political endorsement but as an opening. “Eyes wide open. Feet firmly on the ground,” he said. “But if there’s a chance, we have to take it.”
One Proxy Down?
Asked whether this shift in Syria represents “one proxy down” in the larger struggle against Iran and its allies, Cooper was measured.
“It’s a slow dance,” he said. “But yes, it’s in Israel’s best interest to test the waters more aggressively. To see if there’s something real here.”
He praised Israeli analyst Ehud Yaari, who advocated for engagement with al-Sharaa in an essay published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “I gave a copy of that essay to the Syrian foreign minister,” Cooper said.
Syria, in Cooper’s view, is not the Syria of old. However, it’s also not something entirely new. That’s why, he insists, engagement matters now more than ever.
“We may have very little to lose,” he said. “And possibly a lot to gain.”
