Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Kerry Postpones Israel Trip To Join Syria Talks

The Obama administration could decide this week to approve lethal aid for Syrian rebels and will weigh the merits of a less likely move to send U.S. airpower to enforce a no-fly zone over the nation ripped by two years of civil war, officials said Sunday.

White House meetings are planned as Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces are apparently poised for an attack on the key city of Homs, which could cut off armed opposition from the south of the country and clear a path for the regime from Damascus to the Mediterranean coast. Officials believe as many as 5,000 Hezbollah fighters are now in Syria helping the regime after it captured the town of Qusair near the Lebanese border last week.

Opposition leaders have warned Washington that their rebellion could face devastating, irreversible losses without greater support.

Secretary of State John Kerry postponed a planned trip Monday to Israel and three other Mideast countries to participate in White House discussions, said officials who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.

Read more at Haaretz.com.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.