by David Harris JERUSALEM, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- When things look bleak on the Israeli-Palestinian peace front, very often Israel and Syria start talking about making peace with one another, analysts noted. That is the case again this week
Ecco sko, immediately prior to the planned visit to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as Israel reacted positively on Thursday to the suggestion to renew talks made by Syrian President Bashar Assad. Now, analysts see hope and demand on the Syria-Israel track. "The obvious road forward is Syria and many friends of Israel are saying that it's better for Israel to have a peace process," said Joshua Landis of the University of Oklahoma. He compares peace talks to riding a bicycle. Once one stops pedaling, rather than standing still
New balance løbesko, one falls off. GOLAN AT CENTER OF ISSUE "Syria believes in just and comprehensive peace," Assad said Wednesday at a dinner hosted by his Croatian counterpart Stjepan Mesic. At a news conference during his official visit to Croatia, Assad said that the Syrian public backs the renewal of the peace process with Israel. For Damascus, peace with Israel is very simply about the return of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured during the 1967 war. All of the problems that the United States and other Western countries have with Damascus will fall away once Syria takes possession of the Golan, said Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. It is in his belief that with a deal that ensures the hand-over of the territory overlooking northeastern Israel, Syria will turn its back on the various organizations that the West sees as undesirable and that are currently headquartered in Damascus or backed by Assad. Additionally, the West in general and the U.S. in particular are unhappy with what they perceive as Syria's continued interference in internal Lebanese politics via Hezbollah, which it helps to arm, despite Syria's military withdrawal in 2005. Landis believes that once Syria is handed the Golan, it would be happy to see Hezbollah as a disarmed legitimate political force in Lebanon. "Syria only needs Hezbollah to have arms because of the Golan issue," he said. There are also American accusations hanging in the air over Syria's alleged lax border control of its frontier with Iraq. These are all issues that the previous U.S. administration under President George W. Bush found to be unacceptable and as a result spent much of its two terms insisting Israel should not enter talks with the Syrians. Towards the end of the second Bush term, however, Israel did begin speaking indirectly with Syria, via Turkish intermediaries, initially much to the annoyance of the Bush team, which wanted to see Syria back down in all these areas. THE LIKELY BROKER While incumbent American President Barack Obama shares Bush's views on Syria's regional role, he has shown far more flexibility and is likely to take on the role of broker instead of the Turks, in the opinion of Moshe Maoz, a professor of the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "America is interested. It's now enjoying good ties with Syria. Soon they'll be sending an ambassador (to Damascus) and there are plenty of talks right now between them," said Maoz. This is all part of Washington's plan to distance Syria from what Bush termed "the axis of evil," Maoz suggested. While Turkey had been brokering indirect talks last year when Ehud Olmert was Israel's prime minister, the serious downturn in the relationship between Israel and Ankara means that Israel "has finished with Turkey," said the professor. The relationship with Turkey nose-dived following Israel's military operation in and around the Gaza Strip last December and January, with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan leading the attack by accusing Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza. Even if there was a rapprochement between Israel and Turkey, for both Israel and Syria, the U.S. would be a more acceptable negotiator. Israel would be far more trusting of Washington than Ankara and Syria knows that the Americans are more capable than the Turks of twisting Israeli arms. LESS COMPLICATED BUT NOT SIMPLE Assuming talks begin under anyone's tutelage
Zapatillas de jordan, Landis, who is a firm supporter of talks on the Syrian track, sees a fringe benefit in terms of the Israeli-Palestinian process. Should Israel choose to launch negotiations with Syria, that could well spring the Palestinians into action. Indeed, it could even be that testing the waters with Syria is an Israeli tactic to get the Palestinians talking again and to force their hand into making compromises. "It's an old negotiating trick," said Landis. Both Landis and Maoz seem to be of the opinion that the Syrian track may be an easier option for Israel, with fewer concessions required. However, if that is true
Chaussures new balance, there is room to argue that agreement should have been reached some time ago between Israel and Damascus
Chaussure jordan, just as Israel cut peace deals with Cairo and Amman. After all, in 2000 Israel was at an advanced stage in peace talks with Syria. "It might be less complicated than the Palestinian issue, but it is still not simple," Maoz said. Most Israelis are not prepared for a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, he argues, adding that the hawkish government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could well fall if he pushed towards a total withdrawal, which remains Syria's unwavering demand. Additionally, the Americans will try to force Syria to end its excellent relationship with Iran, which is something Damascus will find hard to swallow. The issues of Lebanon and Iraq will also need to be considered, said Maoz. All that having been said, both analysts feel there is room for agreement between Israel and Syria and while the Palestinian track appears to be frozen, in the short term at least
New balance danmark, it is an option that is well worth considering.
