Israel offers to ‘return’ the Golan Heights

Israel offers to ‘return’ the Golan Heights

By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem

Published: April 23 2008 22:23 | Last updated: April 23 2008 22:23

Israel has reportedly offered to withdraw from the Golan Heights, the territory conquered by Israeli forces in the 1967 war, in return for full peace with Damascus.

The offer was revealed on Wednesday by Buthaina Shaaban, a Syrian cabinet minister, who said the deal was floated by Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister, in talks with the Turkish government. She told Al-Jazeera, the Arab news channel: “Olmert is ready for peace with Syria on the grounds of international conditions; on the grounds of the return of the Golan Heights in full to Syria.”

Crucially, the Syrian claims were not denied by the Israeli government. Mr Olmert’s spokesman declined to comment directly but said: “The Israeli government’s position was always clear and has been reiterated on many occasions. Israel seeks peace with Syria. Israel is interested in peace with Syria. The Syrians understand what Israeli expectations are, and Israel understands what the Syrian expectations are.”

Israel has long demanded Syria cut its ties with two of the Jewish state’s most committed and powerful enemies – Hizbollah, the Lebanese Shia group, and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group. The country’s armed forces fought a war against Hizbollah as recently as 2006, and it continues to trade almost daily attacks with Hamas, which took control of the Gaza Strip last year.

Israel believes that Damascus not only provides political cover for the two groups – Hamas’ top leader is based in the Syrian capital – but also supplies arms and gives military training to the fighters of Hamas and Hizbollah.

But, with the likelihood of a peace agreement with the Palestinians this year receding, Mr Olmert may find it useful to test the waters of a Syrian deal.

There have been reports in recent weeks of secret talks – although Syria has always said negotiations must be public. Damascus insists that Israel should agree to a full withdrawal from the Golan in principle as a condition for the start of negotiations.

US-brokered talks between the two sides on the return of the Golan broke down in 2000. The Bush administration has not encouraged a renewal in negotiations but has instead sought to isolate Syria.

Should Mr Olmert’s reported offer lead to serious negotiations between Israel and Syria, it would mark a striking reversal in the recent relations between the two countries. Israel is widely believed to have launched an air strike on a Syrian military target as recently as last year, in an attack that several media reports claim was directed at a nuclear facility provided by North Korea. Earlier this year, a top Hizbollah commander was killed in a bomb attack on the streets of Damascus. Israel again refused to comment on the widespread claims that it was behind the assassination.