Responding to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration that he was prepared to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad immediately and without preconditions, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem told the pan-Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat that Israel must first declare its intention to withdraw to the 1967 borders before any Syrian-Israeli talks can take place.
The Syrian foreign minister said that there is no point in “putting the cart before the horse” and that “Israel must withdraw from the occupied territories before Syria and Israel can meet”.
Despite the exchange of threats between Damascus and West Jerusalem last month and the trilateral meeting of Hezbollah’s Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Assad in Syria on 25 February, Israel’s training exercise “Firestones 12″, which took place in northern Israel last week, conspicuously omitted simulations of war with Syria. Instead, the Israel Defense Forces fought mock battles in preparation for clashes with Hezbollah in Lebanon or Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The army also cancelled emergency call-up drills for large numbers of regular forces and reserves, fearing Syria might mistake such a move as mobilization for war.
But in line with Haaretz’s Gideon Levy’s article “Israel Does Not Want Peace,” it can be said that Israel seeks no talks to resolve the problem; instead, it suspends this possibility while never missing any chance of upholding Damascus’s hostility. At the end of the day, Syria is bound to play the “bad guy” for Israeli officials, isn’t it?
Israel Pressures US on Syria: After this week’s meetings in Damascus between Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has been pressing U.S. officials not to send Robert Ford, the recently nominated ambassador to Damascus.
Dubai Accuses Israel on Assassination: Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim says he has DNA evidence from one of the assassins and fingerprints from the crime scene. He urged Meir Dagan, the director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, to “be a man” and admit that Israel stands behind last month’s killing of Hamas chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
UN Repeats Call for Call War Inquiries: On Friday, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new resolution, by 98-7 (including the US and Israel) with 31 abstentions and 50 absent, calling on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to investigate the 2008/9 Gaza War with inquiries that are “independent, credible and in conformity with international standards“.
Hamas Divides over Shalit Case?: Haaretz says that negotiations over the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have divided Hamas, with the resignation of Mahmoud A-Zahar, a senior member of the negotiating team. Despite the efforts of German negotiator Gerhard Konrad, Israeli leaders have said that they will not release some senior Palestinian leaders as demanded by Hamas. A-Zahar’s argued with Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal over the handling of talks and then left his post.
Hamas’ “Israel Spy” Speaks: Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef who worked for Israel’s Shin Bet security service, converted to Christianity, and moved to California, said by phone: “I wish I were in Gaza now. I would put on an army uniform and join Israel’s special forces in order to liberate Gilad Shalit. If I were there, I could help. We wasted so many years with investigations and arrests to capture the very terrorists that they now want to release in return for Shalit. That must not be done.”
If the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation.
(The Americans) want to dominate the region but they feel Iran and Syria are preventing that. We tell them that instead of interfering in the region’s affairs, to pack their things and leave.
Israel’s Official Response on Dubai: Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Saturday that there was no evidence tying Israel to the assassination of Hamas strongman Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. He added:
I don’t forsee a crisis with European allies because there is nothing that ties Israel to the assassination.
Britain, France and Germany all share our interests in the battle against global terror, therefore there will be no crisis, instead our relations [with these countries] will continue to deepen.
Palestinian-French Relations: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told the French Journal du Dimanche that the assassination in Dubai underscores the need for peace in the Middle East and demonstrates the need for an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.
Before Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s scheduled visit to Paris next week, Kouchner said, referring to Abbas’s reportedly acceptance of indirect talks under U.S. mediation:
France is training Palestinian police, businesses are being created in the West Bank… It follows that one can envision the proclamation soon of a Palestinian state, and its immediate recognition by the international community, even before negotiating its borders.
Speaking to a memorial rally for Mabhouh in Gaza, Hamas political director Khaled Meshal said from Damascus, “We call on European countries to punish Israel’s leaders for violating laws. Israel deserves to be placed on the terror list.”
On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister was in Damascus again to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad. The immediate issue for the leaders was a treaty addressing the future of the water problem between their countries. The accord permits Syria to take water from the Tigris River and uniting Ankara and Damascus in construction of the “Friendship Dam” on the Asi River.
The wider issue of talks with Israel then emerged. Assad criticized the Israelis for continuing “pre-conditions” on discussions with Damascus. He said:
We discussed today the ways to bring the peace process out of the deadlock that it has reached … because of the absence of a serious Israeli partner who aims to achieve peace.
When Israel says it wants negotiations without conditions it means it wants negotiations with no foundation. This is like having a building with no foundation, then it’s very easy to be brought down and they want to bring down the peace process.
Erdogan reiterated his position that “Ankara is always ready to take responsibility” for mediation.
On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that, although Israel no longer trusts Turkey to mediate talks with Syria, Damascus would not accept France as an alternative: “On this issue (of mediation), Israel’s stance is that it doesn’t trust us. Former Israeli prime minister Olmert trusted Turkey, but [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu doesn’t trust us. That’s his choice.
“Now France is trying to take up the role we had. I’m not sure what kind of stance [Syrian President] Bashar Assad will take, but from what I’ve heard from him, they’re not going to accept something like this.”
Responding to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration that he was prepared to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad immediately and without preconditions, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem told the pan-Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat that Israel must first declare its intention to withdraw to the 1967 borders before any Syrian-Israeli talks can take place.
On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister was in Damascus again to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad. The immediate issue for the leaders was a treaty addressing the future of the water problem between their countries. The accord permits Syria to take water from the Tigris River and uniting Ankara and Damascus in construction of the “Friendship Dam” on the Asi River.
On Wednesday, 
Entries (RSS)