US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack appeared on Sunday evening to suggest that Israel is not a democracy while speaking at the 23rd edition of the annual Doha Forum in Qatar's capital.
"We have never had a democracy in [the Middle East]...I don't see a democracy," Barrack said, adding that "Israel can claim it is a democracy, but in this region, what's worked the best, whether you like it or you do not like it, is a benevolent monarchy."
Barrack: Syria must choose its own future
Taking part in a Doha Forum panel on Syria along with Damascus' foreign minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, Qatari state minister Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, and Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide, Barrack noted that Syria must define its future, "without going in with Western expectations of, 'we want a democracy in 12 months.'"
Israel will strike Iraq if militias seek to support Hezbollah, US envoy warns Baghdad
Barrack warned Baghdad not to involve itself in Israel’s war against Hezbollah, telling officials the country may face Israeli strikes if they or Iran-backed militias there intervened, the Saudi state-run Al Hadath news outlet reported on Monday.
Barrack reportedly told Iraqi officials that Israeli operations in Lebanon would continue until Hezbollah was disarmed.
The warning came a month after sources in the military's Northern Command told Walla that Israel was seeing an increased threat from the country.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.