The terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded Syrian rebel advances leading to the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, has promised religious tolerance and other freedoms, but David Friedman, the former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, said Sunday on Newsmax that he has his doubts.

“My expectations are pretty low that this is a group that can actually create a peaceful, democratic, nonviolent, non-threatening Syria,” Friedman told Newsmax’s “Sunday Report.” “I think that’s really a bridge too far.”

HTS in the past was an al-Qaida affiliate known as the Al-Nusra Front, until 2016, when its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani severed ties with the global jihadist movement.

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