Olmert 'seriously exploring' handing territory to Syria

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (PBS.org)

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is "very seriously" exploring the possibility of resuming talks with Syria aimed at giving up the Golan Heights, the Israeli media reported yesterday, quoting top diplomatic sources.

The Golan Heights is strategic mountainous territory looking down on Israeli and Syrian population centers twice used by Damascus to launch ground invasions into the Jewish state.

According to Israel's Haaretz daily, Olmert tapped third parties to approach Syria to feel out whether Damascus is seriously interested in negotiations.

Syria, which signed a military alliance with Iran, openly hosts Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. The U.S. accuses Syria of fueling and aiding the insurgency in Iraq. Israel says Syria has been allowing large quantities of weapons to be transported from its borders to the Lebanese-based Hezbollah militia, which last summer engaged in a war with the Jewish state. Syria has been widely blamed for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

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The Haaretz report follows a WND exclusive story last week revealing the embattled Olmert – faced with devastatingly low poll numbers and calls from the public and senior officials to resign – directed staffers at Israel's Foreign Ministry to prepare for the possibility of talks with Syria.

Some analysts here have speculated in the Israeli media Olmert's ratings could rise if he reached out to his leftist base and conducted negotiations with the Palestinians or Syria.

According to top diplomatic sources speaking to WND, Israeli intelligence agencies have been asked by Olmert's office to submit reports on the status of Syria's military and the likelihood of a Syrian military attack against the Jewish state.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has held talks with senior ministry staffers to outline Israel's interests during any negotiations with Syria, said the sources.

Foreign Ministry analysts were instructed to put together detailed reports on whether Syrian President Bashar Assad is serious about recent calls for peace with Israel, the sources said.

Assad also recently made a series of statements his military is ready for war with the Jewish state.

Last month, Israeli security officials told reporters Syria, aided by Iran, is preparing for a summer war with Israel, including acquisition of advanced weaponry, placement of missiles near the Jewish state's border, and training and movements of strategic troop battalions.

The information followed media interviews in which top Assad deputies warned if Israel doesn't vacate the Golan Heights, Damascus will resort to "resistance."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters Tuesday the U.S. has given the green light for Israel negotiate with Syria, but she stipulated the prime minister must not agree to any negotiations, even indirectly, regarding a change in the U.S. position toward Syria. The U.S. largely has attempted to isolate Damascus.

The reports of possible talks with Syria come after a government-appointed committee earlier this month released a report slamming Olmert's decision-making process during last summer's war against the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. The report prompted mass demonstrations and widespread calls for Olmert to step down, including from the prime minister's own deputy, Livni.

WND reported in the weeks prior to the report's release Olmert, anticipating a major backlash, held meetings with leading leftist figures here pledging to carry out Israeli withdrawals in exchange for their continued support. The sources said Olmert told the leftist leaders he is willing to negotiate with Syria and reach a final status agreement with the Palestinians, including an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, which borders Jerusalem and is within rocket range of Tel Aviv.

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