About Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel accused the head of the group that led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in Syria of being “a wolf in (sheep’s) clothes” because of his jihadist history.
Speaking at a press conference, Haskel held up a photo collage of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), showing him while a member of jihadist organisations.
“It is important to avoid falling for the attempt to whitewash jihadist (groups) in Syria. We know who they are and their true nature, even if they change their names, and we understand how dangerous they are to the West,” said Haskel.
“These are terrorist organisations and this is a wolf in (sheep’s) clothes.”
Jolani, who now uses his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa over his nom de guerre, fought for Al-Qaeda in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion.
He later set up the Al-Qaeda subsidiary in Syria, the Al-Nusra Front, which for a period was allied with the Islamic State group.
However, Jolani later broke with and fought against both jihadist organisations and eventually rebranded Al-Nusra as the Islamist HTS.
Since taking Damascus earlier this month, Jolani and his group have pledged to protect religious minorities and denied having plans to impose strict Islamic rule.
Jolani has also said “general exhaustion” in Syria meant it did not want another war.
Nevertheless, HTS remains proscribed by several Western governments as a terrorist organisation and is under UN-backed sanctions.
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