Malcolm Hoenlein, a prominent U.S. Jewish leader, secretly visited Damascus about two weeks ago and met with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, the Israeli daily Yediot Achronot reported.
Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said he went to Damascus for humanitarian concerns and was not dispatched on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, he did update the Israeli premier on the meetings.
Hoenlein reportedly was invited to Damascus by Assad, with a Jewish Syrian-American businessman working as an intermediary. It was his second visit to the Syrian capital.
At the meeting with Assad, Hoenlein reportedly requested information on three IDF soldiers who went missing in a battle during the first Lebanon war, and asked that Syria allow the bones of executed Israeli spy Eli Cohen to be brought to Israel for burial.
During the session, Assad gave his approval for the restoration of Jewish synagogues and cemeteries in Syria, Yediot Achronot reported.
On Jan. 3, Hoenlein said he and Assad did not discuss the advancement of Israel-Syria negotiations, stressing that the visit was aimed at promoting humanitarian issues.
Speaking to Ynetnews.com, Joey Allaham, the 35-year-old businessman who facilitated the meeting, confirmed that the tête-à-tête focused on the heritage of Syria’s Jews and the restoration of 18 Jewish cemeteries and synagogues.
He said that during a tour of Damascus’ old city, Hoenlein “was surprised to see Torah books from hundreds of years ago gather[ing] dust.”
The businessman said Assad has respect for the Jewish religion.
“Syria is not Egypt or Jordan. The Syrians have a different mentality,” Allaham said. “They want to do business and enjoy life. They are not concerned with politics. They did not ask for anything in return. They just wanted the Jews to see that the Syrian government respects the Jewish religion.”
Israeli officials speculated that Syria invited Hoenlein as part of its efforts to bolster ties with the Obama administration. “The Syrians know that in order to reach Obama they need the Jews, so they invited a kippah-wearing Jewish American leader,” one official said.
In a recess appointment late last month, President Barack Obama named Robert Ford, a career diplomat, as the first U.S. ambassador to Syria since 2005.
It was one of six recess appointments Obama made Dec. 29 while vacationing in Hawaii. Recess appointments are made when the Senate is not in session and last only until the end of the next session of Congress. They are frequently used when Senate confirmation is not possible.
Specific senators had blocked or refused to consider the confirmations of the nominees for various reasons, including questions about their qualifications. In the case of Ford, a number of senators objected because they believed sending an ambassador to Syria would reward it for bad behavior.
A Kuwaiti newspaper reported over the weekend that talks between Israel and Syria would resume soon, but Jerusalem denied the report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.