Turkey brokers talks on Golan Heights between Israel and Syria

Published on Wednesday 21 May 2008 22:24

ISRAEL and Syria yesterday announced they are holding indirect negotiations through Turkish mediators with the goal of reaching a peace agreement.

In Jerusalem and Damascus the two governments said they "decided to pursue the dialogue between them in a serious and continuous way" and thanked Turkey for its role. An Israeli government official said prime minister Ehud Olmert's chief of staff and diplomatic adviser had been in Turkey since Monday and that their Syrian counterparts were there also.

The two countries have been bitter enemies for six decades and have fought three wars, including in 1967, when Israel captured the strategic plateau of the Golan Heights, which it later annexed.

Walid Mualem, the Syrian foreign minister, said yesterday Israel had agreed to a full withdrawal from the Heights back to the border that existed before the June 1967 war. This would mean Syria getting a foothold on the Sea of Galilee, something Israel has in the past rejected.

But in Israel the announcement touched off strong objections to the territorial concessions that would be required and it remains unclear whether Mr Olmert, who is fighting for his political life in the face of a corruption scandal, would be able to push through a deal. The Golan Heights is home to about 18,000 Israelis.

Asked about Mr Mualem's remarks and charges by Israeli hard-liners that Mr Olmert had also dropped a precondition that Syria distance itself from the militant Lebanese Hezbollah group, the Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said: "Israel understands what the Syrians expect from peace negotiations and the Syrians understand what Israel expects from peace negotiations."

Proponents of a peace treaty with Syria argue that it will pull Damascus out of Iran's sphere of influence and curtail Syria's relations with Hamas and Hezbollah. Opponents say this cannot be guaranteed and that relinquishing the Golan Heights will leave Israel vulnerable to attack.

"It is distressing to see that the prime minister is ready to rush and sell the Golan Heights in order to save himself from investigation," said Yuval Steinitz, a right-wing Knesset member.

Zehava Galon, a Liberal MP, said she supported a withdrawal from the Heights in exchange for peace but believed that "the prime minister does not have the moral and public mandate to conduct the talks".

Noticeably absent from the announcement was the United States. In Washington Dana Perino, the White House spokeswoman, suggested the US was informed in advance of the Israeli move but was not participating.

"We were not surprised by it and we do not object to it," she said. "We hope that this is a forum to address various concerns we all have with Syria, Syria's support of terrorism, repression of its own people."