troung

Israel, Syria in secret peace talks

17jan07

JERUSALEM: Israel and Syria have reached understandings on a future peace deal following secret talks, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported yesterday.

Israeli and Syrian officials met secretly in Europe several times between September 2004 and July last year, reaching a framework for a deal that would include an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, the newspaper reported.
Israel denied any involvement in talks. David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office, said "the Israeli Government is unaware of any such meetings".
Former foreign minister Silvan Shalom told Israel's Army Radio that he learned of the talks by reading the newspaper. He said the last contact Israel had with a Syrian representative was in 2003. Haaretz said Israel was represented in the talks by Alon Liel, a former top diplomat, and that former prime minister Ariel Sharon was briefed on the meetings and that Mr Olmert had been informed.
The Syrian representative was Ibrahim Suleiman, a US citizen who had visited Jerusalem and delivered a message on Syrian interest in a deal with Israel.
The report said Syrian President Bashar Assad initiated the meetings, and that Turkish mediators were the first contacts between the two sides.
The Turkish involvement ended in the northern summer of2004, when an unknown European took over as the leading go-between.
Official peace talks between Israel and Syria broke down in 2000.
According to the report, Israel agreed to withdraw to the lines of the Sea of Galilee, but would retain control of its waters and those of the Jordan River.
A park that would cover a significant portion of the Golan Heights would be set up for joint use by Israelis and Syrians.
The border area would be demilitarised along a 1:4 ratio in Israel's favour. Syria would agree to end support for Hezbollah andHamas and distance itself from Iran.
Not all matters were agreed on, as the timetable for the withdrawal remained open. Syria demanded the pullout be carried out over a five-year period, while Israel asked for the withdrawal to be spread out over 15 years, the newspaper said.
AP

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To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway

mig21bis

It was the legendary Israeli military commander Moshe Dayan, who said: “If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”

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UNIFIL Lebanon 1991-1992
UNPROFOR Croatia 1994-1995
IFOR Bosnia 1996-1997

Stan187

Wow, giving away the Golan to the Syrians would be the most tragic move I can imagine Israel making.

mig21bis

By giving back what belongs to Syria....i´ll guess there is some tragedy but its only move Israel can do to avoid in future more mess....

Like before 1973 war when Sadat offered Israel peace if it would return Sinai to Egypt....well Israel refused and result was -73 war....and after all Israel returned that to Egypt....

Stan187

That was a completely different situation. The Golan is a strategic plateau that overlooks all of northern Israel, and Syria wants it given back BEFORE they even decide to consider peace talks.

The Suez Canal and Egypt's army proper are much further from Israel's border. Israel did not return the Sinai unconditionally. There were official peace talks prior to that happening. And a leadership personality to go along with it, as well as major economic hardships that Egypt was feeling due to the closure of the Suez Canal. That forced Sadat to negotiate. The comparison is not very similar.

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In Iran people belive pepsi stands for pay each penny save israel. -urmomma158
The Russian Navy is still a threat, but only to those unlucky enough to be Russian sailors.-highsea

wabpilot

The Golan Heights, the word heights is important, overlook most of northern Israel. They also put artillery within range of Damascus. Is giving the Golan Heights back to Syria worth the risk? Only Israel can judge that. That offer has been on the table for a long time though. I have to think that the offer is very conditional. Probably conditioned on Syria not introducing arms to the Golan Heights.

tankie

If peace is ever to be obtained , some one has to make moves ? but i think that would be a bad one in todays M/East climate , a bit like putting your head into a lions mouth and saying , please dont bite me .

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TANKIE , WITHOUT WAX

mig21bis

+++++ Syria has said that they wanna negotiate about issue....Israel has made statements that Syria is not "serious" when they call Israelis to same table....

I dont know how much more serious should be if other party calls to negotiate.....take a tattoo in forehead "we are serious"....

Israel is making excuses....

wabpilot

Tankie, you pack a lot into one sentence. I have to agree though, it seems a risk. I am speculating that Israel might think it doesn't need the Golan Heights to fire on Damascus. With their new U-boats and sub launched harpoon missiles, they may think they can bring Damascus under fire from the Med.

glyn

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Semper in excretum. Solum profunda variat.

tankie

Thanks Wabpilot, it may be that they ( Israel) as you say , may be relying on missile tech and God forbid if it comes to it , local nuclear strikes .But its still a big risk .

Ray

The key factor that is spurring the anxiety in the Middle East is the rise of the Shias i.e. Iran.

Iran is making things difficult for the US and Israel. The Hezbollah is a factor in Lebanon over which the Lebanese govt apparently has no control. Syira is chummy with both.

Major Sunni 'powers' are in US's pocket and the Sunnis cannot stand Shias.

Therefore, concessions to Sunnis would be on the cards so that they are in the vanguard in the fight to tame the resurgent Shia power brokers.

Hence, the release of the purse strings to Palestine and the movement towards "peace" in Palestine (the bone of contention for the Sunnis) and forcing the hand of Malliki of Iraq to go for the Shia militia too!

Golan Heights will have to be demilitarised under neutral supervision!

Syria neutralised eliminates to a great extent the threat posed by Hezbollah in Lebanon and so Iran is isolated!

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"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

HAKUNA MATATA

mig21bis

It’s important to note, as detailed in my book, Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam , that Israel has only itself to blame for the emergence of Hamas. After 1967, when Israel occupied Gaza and the West Bank, the Israeli authorities encouraged the growth of Islamism as a counter to Palestinian nationalism and the PLO. In 1967, Israel freed Ahmed Yassin, the Muslim Brotherhood leader who founded Hamas in 1978-88, and they encouraged the Islamic right and the Brotherhood to take control of mosques and student groups. In 1977-78, the Israeli government of Menachem Begin’s Likud officially licensed Yassin’s Islamic movement and gave it official Israeli blessing. Throughout the 1980s, the Muslim Brotherhood fought pitched battles against the PLO. In an interview not long before he died, Arafat said: “Hamas is a creature of Israel,” and he quoted slain Israeli Prime Minister Rabin as having told him that Israeli support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood was a “fatal error.” Several U.S. diplomats and intelligence officials told me about Israel’s support for Yassin and the Brotherhood, and Chas Freeman, the former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told me bluntly: “Israel started Hamas.”



The Dogs that Never Barked - UN Security Council - Global Policy Forum

Stan187

You're taking what supports your argument, and disregarding what you don't like. Syria has said that the want to negotiate about the issue... once the Golan Heights are given back to them.

Of course, when Israeli citizens in the Galilee were being sniped at and barraged by artillery while the Syrians were still on the Golan, they were just making excuses too right?

This is what bothers me about impartial UN troops patrolling a DMZ here. Mig21 was one of them. And by far does not seem neutral to me.

Stan187

Yes they can probably fire on Damascus from the Med., but with the Golan, the Syrians can fire on them much easier.