Israeli-Syrian Peace Could Stabilize Middle East
Shlomo Ben-Ami, former Israeli Foreign Minister | June 16, 2008
Today, a Syrian-Israeli peace, which would enable Syria to recover the Golan Heights and protect the country's interests in Lebanon, is complicated by Syria's alliance with Iran. ++ Yet if Syria achieves peace with Israel, its good relations to Iran could turn out to be a good thing. ++ "Syria's stance might limit, rather than extend, the reach of Iran's strategy of regional destabilization." ++ The US would also need to move away from an ideologically rigid, military approach to conflict resolution and adopt a more pragmatic one.
Thu, Jun 19th 2008, 20:28
Lior Petek, University of St. Gallen, Gold Contributor (105)
Well, obviously no person apart from Olmert himself – if he would not lie, of course – can either verify or falsifiy this claim. However, the coincidence of Olmert’s legal and political troubles with his all of a sudden completely opposite strategy of dealing with Syria – and also with Hamas and even Hezbollah – ought to make one suspicious. Moreover, diverting from internal legal and political troubles by desperately enforcing peace talks and agreements no matter the strategic cost to the state of Israel has always been a known tactic in Israeli politics.