Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Tuesday that Damascus and Israel came close to reaching a security agreement before Israel withdrew from the negotiations, while insisting that the Golan Heights remain Syrian territory.

Speaking at an Atlantic Council event on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sharaa said Syria had chosen diplomacy in its dealings with Israel.

"Syria chose to go through diplomacy [with Israel]. There were several sessions of negotiations with Israel. We almost reached 90% of an agreement but at that point Israel withdrew from the agreement for different reasons that they put in place," said Sharaa.

He said the negotiations centered on security arrangements and suggested they could eventually pave the way toward a broader peace agreement. "If those arrangements succeeded, then we can get into discussions on lasting peace."

Sharaa also rejected any discussion over the status of the Golan Heights, saying, "The Golan Heights are Syrian territory under the recognition of the UN, with the voting of more than 137 countries. They said that this is Syrian territory, so there’s no discussion about those territories and to whom they belong."

Asked by Axios reporter Barak Ravid whether he understood the concerns of Israelis following the October 7 massacre and what message he had for the Israeli public, Sharaa said he understood what happened but argued that Israeli policy should not be determined solely by the attack.

"I understand what happened on the 7th of October for some of the innocent people, but at the same time, it is not possible that all policies are set based on an incident that happened in history," Sharaa said, adding, "because at the same time, we need to understand what happened in Gaza, and more than 70,000 people have been killed there, and so many children, women have been killed and are being killed there."

"It's not appropriate that what happened on the 7th of October set the policy for Syria," he continued. "This is not logical, and this brings more security threats. So if you want to protect your own security, you need to respect the security of others. Israel needs to change its policy because it is creating problems around it in order to maintain security, and this is not working with them, so they need to change their security, their policy."

Sharaa also spoke positively about his relationship with US President Donald Trump, saying, "President Trump stood to the side of Syria, supported Syria, and issued a historic resolution or decision to lift sanctions off Syria and have a very unique relationship with him."

He recalled making a joke to Trump during a visit to the White House after Trump said Israel had sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

"But once, when I visited him in the White House, I made a joke with him. And when he said about the Golan Heights that it has the sovereignty of Israel, I said, 'Why don't you give New Jersey to the Israelis? You don't own the Golan Heights to give it to them. But you own New Jersey. And I believe that New Jersey is full of Democrats, and they are not voting for Trump, so it will be good to give it to the Israelis. So at least this is something that you own."

Sharaa then emphasized, "Regardless of this joke, the Golan Heights, it is owned by its own people. So it's neither the Syrian President or the American President or any other person to abandon them or to give them up to others."

Since taking power following the ouster of Bashar Al-Assad, Sharaa has acknowledged that Syria and Israel held direct discussions over a security agreement, though no deal was reached.

During a visit to Washington last year, he was asked by Fox News about the possibility of Syria joining the Abraham Accords but stopped short of committing to recognizing Israel's right to exist.

At the time, he said, “Syria has borders with Israel, and Israel occupies the Golan Heights since 1967. We are not going to enter into a negotiation directly right now. Maybe the United States administration, with President Trump, will help us reach this kind of negotiation."

Sharaa previously said in April that Israel had backed away from progress at the last moment. “We tried dialogue, indirect and direct negotiations, and reached good points, but the Israelis changed their minds at the last minute," he said during an appearance in London.

Several weeks later, he stated that the discussions were not deadlocked but criticized Israel's demand for a broad security buffer zone, describing it as, "Israel’s insistence on remaining on Syrian territory."