U.S. Blocks Israel-Syria Talks

[bemildred]

Even as American officials reluctantly agreed last month to include Syrian representatives in multiparty talks on Iraqi security issues, the Bush administration continues to block Israel from resuming negotiations with Syria over its security concerns. In 2003, President Bashar al-Assad offered to resume peace talks with Israel where they had left off three years earlier, but Israel, backed by the Bush administration, refused. Assad eventually agreed to reenter peace negotiations without preconditions, but even these overtures were rejected.

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Israel and Syria came very close to a peace agreement in early 2000. The Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to withdraw from Syrian territory occupied since the June 1967 war in return for Syria agreeing to strict security guarantees, normalized relations, the demilitarization of the strategic Golan Heights and the cessation of support for radical anti-Israel groups. Only a dispute regarding the exact demarcation of the border, constituting no more than a few hundred yards, prevented a final settlement.

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Within Israel, however, there is also a growing awareness that returning the Golan Heights to Syria would not jeopardize Israeli security. While maintaining the high ground may have constituted a strategic advantage 40 years ago, it is far less important in an era when the principal threats to Israel’s security come in the form of suicide bombers and long-range missiles. Israeli army chief Lt. Gen Moshe Yaalon observes that, from a strategic perspective, Israel could cede the Golan Heights in return for peace and successfully defend Israel’s internationally-recognized border.

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Many Israelis also recognize the broader implication of resuming dialogue with Damascus, in that it would likely reduce Iran’s regional influence, weaken the threat from Hezbollah, improve Israel’s relations with other Arab states, and encourage more pragmatic Palestinian voices while weakening extremists. “The moment there are negotiations with Syria, then everything changes in the Middle East,” says Danny Yatom, former head of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, “and we can begin renewing ties with other Arab states.” Robert Malley, former special assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli affairs, notes how “the mere sight of Israeli and Syrian official sitting side by side would carry dividends, producing ripple effects in a region where popular opinion in is moving away from acceptance of the Jewish state’s right to exist, an putting Syrian allies than oppose a negotiated settlement in an awkward position.”

http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4190

[Erika]

1. W doesn't want peace nor did he ever

That doesn't bring in the $ to his donors. I so hope Bush is impeached.

[azurnoir]

2. Add this to the many WTF moments

of this administration. Apparently there are parties so desperate to go to war with Iran that they will see Israel endangered to do it. Did Bush threaten to close the purse strings? Israel should be careful about who they call friend, especially with this bunch they always expect "benefits"

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. somethings just plain boggle my mind

If I was a right-winger and held an entirely opposite view of the world than I do, I would find this all the more insane.

If I was an Islamist extremist I would find great comfort in knowing that possible peace talks between Syria and Israel have been thwarted.

_______________________

originally posted by Oberliner

link: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/848517.html

"Bill Clinton: Israel-Syria peace deal could be reached within 35 minutes
A peace agreement between Israel and Syria could be reached within 35 minutes, former U.S. president Bill Clinton told the Lebanon-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper in an interview published Sunday.

link to full article:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/848517.html

.

[Shaktimaan]

4. Syria's a wild card.

It isn't the same Syria that it was previously. And I have a feeling that Hafez was never too keen on making peace. He was weakened from the fall of the USSR and the negotiations were to placate America. After all, he ended the negotiations in failure because he demanded access to the lake he enjoyed swimming in. Facetious comments aside, his son is all over the map. One day he wants negotiations, the next he swears that there will never be peace. Additionally he is extremely weak as a leader and I question his ability to take the steps needed for a lasting peace.