Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., May 02, 2008 Nisan 27, 5768 | | Israel Time: 14:22 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Advertising
Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
Syrian President Bashar Assad: Ehud Olmert is willing to give up the Golan. (AP)
Last update - 21:43 24/04/2008
Ex-envoy Indyk: Syria won't talk to Israel unless U.S. present
By Yoav Stern and Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
Tags: U.S., Golan Heights, Israel 

A former U.S. envoy and Mideast negotiator called Thursday for peace talks in which Israel would yield the Golan Heights to Syria in return for a peace treaty and withdrawal of support for Hezbollah militants, but said Syria was not likely to negotiate with Israel without American presence.

Martin Indyk, former ambassador to Israel, told the House Mideast subcommittee that Israel had enlisted Turkey to help register its interest in peace negotiations to Syria.

But Indyk, who was a U.S. negotiator during former President Bill Clinton's efforts in 2000 to mediate an agreement, said, "Syria will not sit down with Israel without the United States in the room."
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday said that Israel was genuinely interested in restarting talks with Syria.

Earlier Thursday, Syrian President Bashar Assad confirmed that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had offered an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights in return for full peace with its Arab neighbor.

Israel would not comment on the withdrawal offer, but did say it was interested in negotiating with Damascus.

"We are interested in peace with Syria. We know what the Syrians expect from negotiations and the Syrians knows what Israel wants from the negotiations," said Mark Regev, a spokesman of Olmert.

Israel seized the plateau, seen as a vital military asset, during the 1967 Six-Day War. Talks between Israel and Syria on the issue were last held in 2000, but broke down over the extent of an Israeli pullback at the Sea of Galilee.

Speaking in an interview published Thursday in the Qatari newspaper Al-Watan, Assad said that the message had been passed from Israel to Syria via Turkey, often seen as a mediator between the two enemy states.

Assad said that intensive contacts between Israel and Syria began following the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006. He said that the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "announced Israel's readiness to withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for peace with Syria. Turkey entered the picture a year ago, in April 2007 to be precise. Olmert stressed to the Turkish prime minister his readiness to return the Golan."

The Syrian leader said Erdogan had delivered Olmert's message a week ago. "After that," Assad said, "we heard Olmert's statement that 'We know what Syria wants and it knows what we want'."

Olmert made the comment in an interview to Haaretz to mark the Passover holiday.

The Syrian media had previously reported that Erdogan phoned Assad and told him that Olmert was willing to give up the Golan.

Erdogan is expected to arrive in Damascus over the weekend for the opening of a Turkish-Syrian business forum, and will reportedly be meeting with Assad to discuss the talks, among other issues.

Acknowledging talks through a third party, Assad told a closed meeting of the ruling Baath party on Sunday that an Israeli commitment to withdraw fully from the Golan had to be a basis for talks, and any direct negotiations would be public.

Iran warns Syria against ties with U.S., Israel

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday warned Syria against becoming closer with Israel and the United States and urged Islamic nations to stand up against Western 'conspiracies and wars.'

Following the Iranian leader's talks Thursday with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, Ahmadinejad's office issued a statement calling on Middle Eastern nations to "stand on guard in the face of the conspiracies and civil wars our enemies our planning and prepare to cause them ro fail."

Ahmadinejad warned that the United States was planning to involve itself in Middle Eastern regional matters, but said its policies on Iran and Syria were failing.

U.S. role 'vital'

Following contacts between Israel and Syria, officials say significant U.S. involvement will probably be necessary for negotiations to move ahead, and that Syria is still demanding such involvement.

Both Israeli and foreign experts on Syria told Haaretz on Wednesday that a change in the American position was not on the horizon, and that no details on the Israeli position had been included in Wednesday's Syrian media reports on Israel's willingness to withdraw from the Golan Heights.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Wednesday that if Israel were serious about making peace with Syria and withdrawing from the Golan, there was nothing to prevent the renewal of negotiations. But he added that Syria was not prepared to hold talks with Israel that would harm the Palestinian negotiating track.

Speaking at a news conference in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, Moallem said the Syrian position was that Israel had to withdraw to the lines of June 4, 1967, not the international boundary. His statements were carried by the official Syrian news agency SANA.

In response to reports that Olmert had agreed to withdraw from the Golan, the head of the Knesset House Committee, MK David Tal, said he hopes to quickly pass a bill requiring an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan to be dependent on a national referendum.

Tal said an evacuation of the Golan would draw Hezbollah to the region. The chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Likud MK Yuval Steinitz, said "Olmert's willingness to come down from the Golan is an expression of unprecedented political and security anarchy." He said Israel could not protect itself and its water sources without the Golan.

MK Arieh Eldad (National Union-National Religious Party) called on opposition leader and Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately announce "that he would not be obligated to any suicidal concession by Olmert."

In contrast, MK Yossi Beilin (Meretz) called on Olmert "to take advantage of the opportunity and conduct quick and intensive negotiations with the Syrians." Such talks would "lead to a dramatic change in [Syria's] relationship with extremist elements in the area," Beilin said.

When asked about Wednesday's reports, Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said: "I have nothing to add beyond what the prime minister said on Friday in his interviews with the Israeli press about his desire for peace with Syria."

Related articles:
  • Golan leaders to Turkey: Push Syria talks without pricing Golan
  • Olmert: Talks with Syria worth serious consideration
  • Syria says it's not seeking military solution with Israel
  • Israel, Syria message exchange ends in failure
  • Syrian state-run newspaper: Non-comprehensive peace won't last
  • Minister Majadele: Israel is ready to return Golan for peace
    • Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Hamas on the Holocaust
    Al-Aqsa TV claims Jews concocted the Holocaust.
    Grasping genocide
    How a non-Jew in Israel came to understand the Holocaust.
      1.   Insanity 05:48  |  Rabbi Yakov Lazaros 24/04/08
      2.   Golan Under Syrian Rule - Reality For Druze 06:56  |  Phil 24/04/08
      3.   The deconstruction of Imperial Israel begins 07:52  |  Natallie Durson 24/04/08
      4.   Iran and its servile ally Syria. 08:20  |  Jean Van Daem 24/04/08
      5.   To Rabbi Lazaros 08:51  |  Karl 24/04/08
      6.   Decency before Peace 12:22  |  DDDDDDD 24/04/08
      7.   Dangerous, because Olmert doesn`t have a mandate to do it. 13:04  |  redmike 24/04/08
      8.   Sooner or later israel will have to give up its dream of Greater 13:25  |  lakshmi 24/04/08
      9.   Golan is Syrian! 13:26  |  Sayid- SyrianArab 24/04/08
      10.   Golan 13:28  |  Ricardo Levy 24/04/08
      11.   to #3 13:33  |  Ricardo Levy 24/04/08
      12.   The pressure from Iranian weapons is playing its effect 13:37  |  Aounist 24/04/08
      13.   Karl 13:42  |  Michael 24/04/08
      14.   You can`t give it to Syria. 13:44  |  Fred McCann 24/04/08
      15.   To #6: DDDDDD Get your facts right!! 13:46  |  An Arab Neighbor 24/04/08
      16.   Unlike Syria`s dictator, Olmert can`t do anything 13:52  |  David Teich 24/04/08
      17.   GOLAN WAS JEWISH 13:59  |  Iskander 24/04/08
      18.   Assad is spilling the beans on Olmert 14:26  |  Brod 24/04/08
      19.   Walid Moallem is obviously no fool..... 14:29  |  Johnboy 24/04/08
      20.   Olmert is a lame duck. 14:34  |  Vitaly 24/04/08
      21.   #16 Very graceous of you, David.... 14:34  |  Johnboy 24/04/08
      22.   We`ll have something to say about it 14:43  |  עם ישראל 24/04/08
      23.   re 17, you dont now anything about history 14:44  |  Sayid- SyrianArab 24/04/08
      24.   Go on cave into these NUTTERS again 14:51  |  mikey 24/04/08
      25.   golan is part of israel from dez 81and not traitor can offer it 14:53  |  vladimir 24/04/08
      26.   Make peace with a dictatorship? 15:21  |  Sam 24/04/08
      27.   Peace is possible 15:38  |  Abu Yusuf 24/04/08
      28.   To # 9 you also must know why it was taken 15:44  |  Yosi 24/04/08
      29.   Assad is spilling the beans on Olmert 16:02  |  Brod 24/04/08
      30.   #11 Ricardo: The difference is Native Americans are US Citizens 16:29  |  Tupac 24/04/08
      31.   Abu: 360 will put you at the same place! 16:30  |  Ruy 24/04/08
      32.   The devil is in the details: 16:32  |  Eldad 24/04/08
      33.   To PHIL # 2 - Olmert gives Golan for `Peace` 16:39  |  Dagma 24/04/08
      34.   Hey give up also rest of it to pacify Hamas 16:43  |  Boris 24/04/08
      35.   Golan to Syria, Hermon to Iran, Olmert to mental institution 16:46  |  Sal 24/04/08
      36.   #15 Arab Neighbor Is Right but... 16:47  |  dyinglikeflies 24/04/08
      37.   TO # 1. I think this is Sanity. Please read what i think 16:48  |  Simon Mohammed 24/04/08
      38.   To Abu Yusuf #37 16:58  |  Vitaly 24/04/08
      39.   Olmert: it is not democratic to make promises past the Israelis! 17:01  |  AliciaYasmeen 24/04/08
      40.   Keep the Golan..... Give Up Olmert Instead 17:02  |  YSL 24/04/08
      41.   Olmert: have the Israelis given you the mandate to cede Golan? 17:03  |  AliciaYasmeen 24/04/08
      42.   Olmert: show some respect for the Israeli-people, please! 17:07  |  AliciaYasmeen 24/04/08
      43.   OLMERT MAKING A NUISANCE OF HIMSELF 17:13  |  Natasha 24/04/08
      44.   Rabbi Yakov Lazaros: Vital to security? 17:16  |  Rabbi Low 24/04/08
      45.   Yosi - Israel has always attempted a military solution 17:18  |  MAN 24/04/08
      46.   Olmert=Coward! 17:29  |  Robert/Montreal 24/04/08
      47.   NO, SYRIA ...THIS CANT BE THAT EASY. WHAT IS THE TRAP FOR SYRIA 17:31  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 24/04/08
      48.   With that warning it speaks for its self, Also Olmert is a idiot 17:31  |  Dish It Out 24/04/08
      49.   #3 Natalie the expert speaks (nothing like usual) 17:33  |  Robert/Montreal 24/04/08
      50.   GOLAN ALREADY SYRIAN ... NO NEED TO SELL THE ISLAMIC UNITY 17:34  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 24/04/08
      51.   FREE GAZA IS MUCH BETTER OFFER INSTEAD GOLAN 17:35  |  BE WISE SYRIA 24/04/08
      52.   HIS EYES JUST LIKE A CAT. BYE BYE IRAN :) 17:37  |  I NEVER TRUST CATS 24/04/08
      53.   AHMEDINEJAD : SYRIA SOLD US. IN FACT WE NEVER TRUSTED HER. 17:37  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 24/04/08
      54.   21: It`s important to be gracious 17:39  |  David Teich 24/04/08
      55.   8: Yet lakshmi won`t give up the Caliphate 17:42  |  David Teich 24/04/08
      56.   ISRAEL TAKING THE ISLAM POWER AS TOO STUPID :) 17:42  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 24/04/08
      57.   #14- Fred it is not Israel it is Olmert! 17:42  |  Robert/Montreal 24/04/08
      58.   19: JB`s own weird faith 17:45  |  David Teich 24/04/08
      59.   Jonboy whalid is no fool 17:45  |  Robert/Montreal 24/04/08
      60.   27: Yusuf`s problem with geometry 17:47  |  David Teich 24/04/08
      61.   Gracious of David Per Jonboy 17:48  |  Robert/Montreal 24/04/08
      62.   עם ישראלAm Israel Chai ! 17:50  |  Robert/Montreal 24/04/08
      63.   30: Tupac, rapped on the head too many times 17:51  |  David Teich 24/04/08
      64.   #23 Israel lays ancient Jewish claim to Golan 17:54  |  Robert/Montreal 24/04/08
      65.   Toi lakshmi 17:57  |  Oleg 24/04/08
      66.   Tupac do some investigating there are Israeli arabs 17:58  |  Robert/Montreal 24/04/08
      67.   To KARL # 5 - The Golan was not Always Syrian..... 18:01  |  Dagma 24/04/08
      68.   re 28, if you want to know why Syrian army shelled israel.... 18:03  |  Sayid- SyrianArab 24/04/08
      69.   Olmert must also assert that..... 18:06  |  The Archives 24/04/08
      70.   Giving the Golan [Part 2]- The Question is...... 18:10  |  Dagma 24/04/08
      71.   lakshmi...yes and soon Islamists will have 18:13  |  Lynn 24/04/08
      72.   Natalie 18:14  |  Dan 24/04/08
      73.   Syria has been trying for years 18:17  |  Mark Lincoln 24/04/08
      74.   Even The Bushies have started seeing the light. 18:20  |  ManintheMiddle 24/04/08
      75.   This is a security issue 18:27  |  PsuedoConservative 24/04/08
      76.   No land exchange for words 18:32  |  utagawa 24/04/08
      77.   its show time!!! can the zio-state pull syrai away w/promises 18:39  |  stay tuned 24/04/08
      78.   Israel`s MUSLIM Minister: ISRAEL MUST GIVE GOLAN TO SYRIA 18:47  |  Linda Rivera 24/04/08
      79.   I love you Atilla K. 18:49  |  Tali 24/04/08
      80.   why israel is so scared now 18:54  |  tea man 24/04/08
      81.   YES or NO 19:05  |  Robin 24/04/08
      82.   Olmert understands things very sloooowly (and he ain`t there yet) 19:08  |  Tosefta 24/04/08
      83.   Ex Israeli Ambassador to Israel Zalman Shoval speaks. 19:17  |  Natasha 24/04/08
      84.   Is this Syrian president natural asor is he trying to look stupid 19:21  |  Someone 24/04/08
      85.   Change will come fast, hard, and heavy. Close the deal NOW 19:42  |  Pablo B 24/04/08
      86.   Fear of Iran has made Israel this offer. But 19:51  |  Bobby 24/04/08
      87.   THIS GUY IS DEPRESSED 19:54  |  Iskander 24/04/08
      88.   Break Away Syria 19:55  |  Yosemite 24/04/08
      89.   This peace with Assad is not in sight... 20:00  |  georges 24/04/08
      90.   Hah! Good one (Israel is genuinely Interested in Peace talks) 20:06  |  Lee Kaplan 24/04/08
      91.   Withdrawal 20:08  |  PlanoStu 24/04/08
      92.   Golan is Syrian #9 20:09  |  Mike 24/04/08
      93.   Lakshmi what will you do? 20:20  |  H 24/04/08
      94.   Iran is worried and blackmailing Syria already. 20:25  |  Fortuna Benmayor 24/04/08
      95.   To all peace lovers 20:36  |  David Israel 24/04/08
      96.   I ADMIT MY DEAR BABY HAARETZ ...HERE I AM TO ADMIT ... 20:41  |  Atilla 24/04/08
      97.   MY BABY HAARETZ, WE BOTH DIDNT SELL OUR INSANITY HONOR 20:44  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 24/04/08
      98.   Look at the haters 20:46  |  Robert/Montreal 24/04/08
      99.   #12 20:51  |  Sakura One 24/04/08
      100.   SYRIA WAS / IS / WILL CHARACTERLESS 20:52  |  ATİLLA KARAGÖZOĞLU 24/04/08
      101.   Golan is Not Essential to Security 20:56  |  Meir 24/04/08
      102.   WILL the real Assad please stand up 21:08  |  PETER SM 24/04/08
      103.   Concession to Terrorism 21:35  |  Woodah 24/04/08
      104.   very boring stuff - neither side is offering anything ! 21:36  |  redmike 24/04/08
      105.   # 1 the rabbi is an hypocrite 21:37  |  PJ 24/04/08
      106.   Something for nothing. The dream lives on 21:40  |  Natallie Durson 24/04/08
      107.   David Israel #60 21:43  |  Brod 24/04/08
      108.   Oh, Goody! Pieces of Israel for Sale: currency: Peace 22:27  |  Zev 24/04/08
      109.   In the days to come 22:33  |  roger wallace 24/04/08
      110.   indyk and syria 22:41  |  elliot 24/04/08
      111.   Sami From Syria 23:54  |  Sami 24/04/08
      112.   Syria playing some dangerous games 23:57  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 24/04/08
      113.   At least the Assads are not fat 00:19  |  Mark B. 25/04/08
      114.   # 62 Sami of Syria...look at Assad`s pic 00:27  |  Lynn 25/04/08
      115.   Sami the Syrian 00:58  |  Realist 25/04/08
      116.   where in Europe 01:00  |  natan 25/04/08
      117.   #58 H, I keep telling them that but they won`t listen 01:10  |  Mikey 25/04/08
      118.   Sami #62 01:19  |  mike 25/04/08
      119.   Syria`s dictat 01:33  |  peter 25/04/08
      120.   #41 The Teichsters Hasbarah History..... 01:44  |  Johnboy 25/04/08
      121.   Iskander ..he is caught between a rock and a hard place 01:50  |  Lynn 25/04/08
      122.   #38 David Teich shows his one-eyed world view 01:57  |  Johnboy 25/04/08
      123.   Iran will be left out in the cold..maybe..depends 02:37  |  Stephen. 25/04/08
      124.   # 55. Kaplan. No, youre incorrect. 03:06  |  Stephen. 25/04/08
      125.   replying to Ricardo Levy 03:07  |  elmo 25/04/08
      126.   Golan 03:07  |  Robin Hood 25/04/08
      127.   Replying to #11 and # 33 03:12  |  Elmo 25/04/08
      128.   Wanna Know Why ? I`ll Tell You. 03:45  |  MIKE 25/04/08
      129.   IRAN WILL SAVE JEWISH GOLAN FROM OLMERT`S DIRTY HANDS)))))))))) 03:51  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 25/04/08
      130.   No more lands 03:55  |  Mark 25/04/08
      131.   golan 04:08  |  Mark 25/04/08
      132.   Brod - While I share your concernes 05:16  |  David israel 25/04/08
      133.   Brod While I share your concernes 05:21  |  David Israel 25/04/08
      134.   #77 What`s left to talk about, peter? 05:24  |  Johnboy 25/04/08
      135.   Tosefta - the Middle East and American Elections 05:43  |  Mark Lincoln 25/04/08
      136.   Golan is the safest place in Israel 06:05  |  Chaim 25/04/08
      137.   JOHNBOY whats left to talk about??1.Syria as Iran`s messenger boy 06:45  |  PETER SM 25/04/08
      138.   #107 I see, PETER SM 10:58  |  Johnboy 25/04/08
      139.   My last words to Mark Lincoln. 13:42  |  Akram Zekaria 25/04/08
      140.   making Assad sweat over chosing which side.. is a good strategy. 14:18  |  Marco 25/04/08
      141.   120,122: JB still using words he doesn`t understand, p1 11:18  |  David Teich 27/04/08
      142.   120,122: JB still using words he doesn`t understand, p2 11:23  |  David Teich 27/04/08
      143.   #141 David Teich lies. Again. 16:45  |  Johnboy 27/04/08
      144.   #142 David Teich, The Slogan Master 17:02  |  Johnboy 27/04/08
      145.   143: JB, please, study ENGLISH 13:36  |  David Teich 29/04/08
      146.   144: No, JB, the fact master 13:42  |  David Teich 29/04/08
      147.   #145 Teichie gets out the scissors for the ol` cut`n`paste 16:15  |  Johnboy 29/04/08
      148.   #146 David seems to be confused here..... 16:36  |  Johnboy 29/04/08
      149.   JB: The pot calling the flower black..., p1 13:51  |  David Teich 02/05/08
      150.   JB: The pot calling the flower black..., p2 13:58  |  David Teich 02/05/08
     Read & React
    PM faces calls to take leave after questioned under caution
    Responses: 32
    Rice: Israel, PA must agree on final borders 'once and for all'
    Responses: 88
    Gaza sewage pumped into the sea over past three months
    Responses: 35
    Yad Vashem chair: Superficially equating genocides dishonors their victims
    Responses: 7
    Akiva Eldar: Using the Syria channel as cover for Israel-PA setbacks
    Responses: 7
    Rosner's Domain
    Talking about war with Iran is not necessarily bad
    Ziad Asali: The urgency of settlement freeze
    Harry Potter, nice Jewish boy (WTR)
    Poll: truce with Hamas, good or bad?
    Is Israel finished? five questions


    More Headlines
    13:07 Five Israelis killed in road accident in Bolivia
    13:41 PM faces calls to take leave after questioned under caution
    13:30 Qartet calls on Israel to freeze W. Bank settlement construction
    13:30 World powers urge Arabs to honor pledges to Palestinians
    07:44 A veteran of the partisans, but he could not free Mt. Scopus
    05:53 Gaza sewage pumped into the sea over past three months
    12:02 Price of fresh produce rises by 6.7 percent in first 3 months of 2008
    22:56 Yellow patch, Blue victory: U.K. media praise Grant after Chelsea win
    05:29 Report shows workers lost NIS 8,000 each to employers' benefit
    02:53 Between Qassams and poverty, especially tough times in Sderot
    Previous Editions
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Pardes Institute Summer Sessions
    http://www.pardes.org.il/
    FAREWELL ISRAEL New Film
    The Coming War for Islamic Revival - View Movie Trailer
    The interest rates haven't changed
    But your profits will!
    Learn Hebrew online
    with Israel's best teachers Sign up for a trial lesson today
    Free the Palestinians from:
    Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy
    Fattal Hotel Chain
    Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
    ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel
    Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |
    Real Estate in Israel
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved