Posted on 06/08/2007 7:24:49 PM PDT by blam
Israel offers the Golan Heights to Syria
By Charles Levinson in Katzrin, Israel
Last Updated: 2:16am BST 09/06/2007
The Israeli prime minister has offered to return the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for peace, the nation's press reported yesterday.
Israelis tour a military bunker in the Golan Heights. The strategic highlands could be returned to Syria in exchange for peace
In a secret communique, Ehud Olmert demanded that in exchange for the return of the strategic highlands, Syria dissolve its alliances with Iran, Hezbollah and Palestinian militant factions who maintain headquarters in Damascus.
Syria, under the regime of Bashar al Assad, is a key supporter of the Lebanese Shia Hizbollah militia, who battled Israel to a standstill last summer. Many of the anti-tank rockets that wreaked havoc on Israeli ground forces originated in Syria, a crucial conduit for the Iranian Katyushas and other rockets that rained down on Israeli cities throughout the 34-day war.
Were Syria to abandon its Shia allies in Lebanon and Iran in exchange for peace with the Jewish state, it would seriously weaken Israel's most potent foes.
"I am your partner for making peace between our countries," Mr Olmert told Damascus through German and Turkish mediators, Israel's Yediot Ahranot newspaper reported. "I know that a peace agreement with Syria requires me to return the Golan Heights to Syrian sovereignty. I am willing to fulfil my part in this deal."
Mr Olmert reached out to Syria only after America's president George W Bush gave the green light in an hour-long phone conversation last month. The prime minister's office would neither confirm nor deny the reports.
Israel and Syria participated in arduous peace talks throughout much of the 1990s. But those efforts collapsed in 2000 amid disagreement over sovereignty of a narrow strip of land near the eastern shore of Lake Kinneret.
FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, GET OLMERT OUT OF OFFICE BEFORE HE DOES REAL DAMAGE TO ISRAEL, THIS TWO BIT MORON IS GREY MEAT, GET RID OF HIM ASAP MORONS IN ISRAEL.....
If he truly did, he is a fool and a traitor. Israel can not long survive without the Golan Heights.
Exactly.
I couldn’t agree more. Scary.
Yeah. The equation is clear: Bush is to Mexico as Olmert is to Syria. Pathetic.
Idiot.
Beyond idiotic.... very french.
Olmert needs to bo back and re-read Kings & Chronicles.
The proper response is to rob the Temple & King’s Treasures to buy off foreign aggressors; not give them land.
Should be plenty enough loot in Al Aqsa/Dome of the Rock to cover it.
Giving the Golan Heights to Syria will guarantee a war. And the results won’t be favorable to Israel.
Beyond stupid.
Israeli Prime Minister Said Willing to withdraw from Golan Heights
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has relayed a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad saying Israel will withdraw from the Golan Heights territory it seized in the 1967 war if that is the price of peace. According to sources, Olmert told the Syrian leader Israel would return the Golan in exchange for a 60-day cease fire agreement and a pledge not to mutilate Jews after they are killed.
Assad said that while he is reluctant to lend legitimacy to the “Zionist occupiers of Palestine,” he would consider the offer. “The Jews must ultimately vacate the region,” Assad asserted. “This could be a useful step on the road to a final solution of the Jewish problem. The Golan heights provide an excellent vantage point for shelling Israeli positions.”
The prime minister defended his offer saying that “the promised 60-day ceasefire would the most solid period of peace enjoyed by Israel since the Oslo Accords.”
While Olmert has received criticism from Likkud, politicians of the Left praised his initiative. “A 60-day ceasefire is a small price to pay to get the Jews off the Golan Heights,” United Arab List-Ta’al Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi said. “The struggle for Palestine can be renewed after this brief interlude.”
Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin praised the change in Olmert’s stance regarding negotiations with Syria. “When you are feeding the crocodile it is best to give him small bites,” Beilin remarked. ”That way you may postpone your eventual doom another day, or in this case, at least another 60-days.”
In related news, a new poll of Palestinians revealed that 51% support the rocket attacks on Israel even though 66% say the attacks provide no real benefit to the Palestinians. “It’s a matter of pride,” explained poll respondent Yusef Ashat. “Pursuing benefits is the way of the Jew. We are not like that. It is better that no one benefits than that one Jew should enjoy a moment’s respite on the path to his extermination.”
read more...
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
olmert is not all there.
Olmert will soon not be the PM and the Syrian “peace” would not be verifiable. The UN would be all over Israel if they said Syria helped any of the Palestinian terrorist organizations. So it’s an absolutely insane offer if true!
In general, it’s never a good idea to let the enemy have any ground referred to as “heights”.
Perfectly stated!
Maynerd, I just don’t understand why the Israelis don’t go for Bibi, can you enlighten me?
Instead they continue down the road to ruin with this appeasing lawyer turd.
Are you kidding me!??!!!?!?!!?
?! ?
Yeah, Gaza worked out great didn’t it? How stupid can Olmert be?
Can they remove him from office before this happens?
As I said on the other thread:
Really, really, really bad idea.
Never give up the high ground, that you’ve fought and died for.
Never.
Doesn’t he realize that still won’t be enough?
I have been on the Golan and looked upon Galilee. You can dominate the area with a sling shot. After seeing how it commands the terrain, I can’t imagine giving it to anyone that was ever hostile or inclined to be hostile. This is nuts.
No no no no no. No.
Rule 1: Land for land.
Rule 2: Peace for peace.
Rule 3: Do not mix rule 1 and 2.
Rule 4: Learn from your own damned history!
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