Secret understandings reached between representatives of Israel, Syria

[bemildred]

It will be interesting, if this proves not to be bullshit, to see if the Bushites approve ...

---

The main points of the understandings are as follows:

# An agreement of principles will be signed between the two countries, and following the fulfillment of all commitments, a peace agreement will be signed.

# As part of the agreement on principles, Israel will withdraw from the Golan Heights to the lines of 4 June, 1967. The timetable for the withdrawal remained open: Syria demanded the pullout be carried out over a five-year period, while Israel asked for the withdrawal to be spread out over 15 years.

# At the buffer zone, along Lake Kinneret, a park will be set up for joint use by Israelis and Syrians. The park will cover a significant portion of the Golan Heights. Israelis will be free to access the park and their presence will not be dependent on Syrian approval.

# Israel will retain control over the use of the waters of the Jordan River and Lake Kinneret.

# The border area will be demilitarized along a 1:4 ratio (in terms of territory) in Israel's favor.

# According to the terms, Syria will also agree to end its support for Hezbollah and Hamas and will distance itself from Iran.

Haaretz

[peacetalksforall]

1. Excuse my cynicism - will this be finalized and singed before or

after we attack Iran and/or Syria?

The timing of this is unbelievable if there is truth to the rumor of an attack on Iran being conducted by Israel with the U.S. at their side and behind them.

[bemildred]

2. I would think a good deal of cynicism was in order here.

No need to apologize.

[oberliner]

3. This seems really positive

I wonder what the reaction is in Syria.

No mention of this on the Syrian Arab News Agency web site (at least not the English version).

[Scurrilous]

4. Report: Israel, Syria reach secret understandings

Haaretz reports that document of understandings for peace agreement formulated in series of unofficial meetings between representatives from Israel, Syria and Europe. According to document, Israel will withdraw from Golan Heights to lines of June 4, 1967. Syrian areas east of Golan to be demilitarized, park to be set up in order to allow Israel to retain control over use of waters of Jordan River, Lake Kinneret

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3352811,00.html

<snip>

"Representatives from Israel and Syria , who have been holding talks for about two years, reached a document of understanding for a peace agreement between the two countries, Haaretz daily reported Tuesday morning.

The unofficial talks were held with the knowledge of senior official in the government of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and later in the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

According to the document, Israel will withdraw from the Golan Heights to the lines of June 4, 1967. The timetable for the withdrawal remains open.

Syria demanded that the withdrawal will be carried out over a five-year period, while Israel asked to spread out the withdrawal over 15 years.

The document of understandings (a "non-paper") has no legal standings, but a political standing, and it was generated in discussions held between September 2004 and July 2006. The great part of the document was formulated in August 2005."

[Eugene]

5. Denials: Syrian official denies report of talks as 'completely false' (Haaretz)

Last update - 12:28 16/01/2007
Syrian official denies report of talks as 'completely false'
By Haaretz Serivce

The Syrian Foreign Ministry Tuesday denied a Haaretz report that understandings
for a peace agreement between Israel and Syria were formulated in a series of
secret meetings in Europe between September 2004 and July 2006, calling the
account "completely false."

"No negotiations took place, the Haaretz report is completely false," a Syrian
Foreign Ministry official said in Damascus.

Official Israeli response to the report was more tentative. "This is the first
we have heard of the talks, we have never sanctioned anybody to speak to the
Syrians and the prime minister first learned of these conversations through the
newspaper report this morning," said Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert.

An unnamed senior cabinet minister was quoted Tuesday as saying that there were
no contacts between the two nations, and that the story was "a bluff."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/814085.html

[Shaktimaan]

6. That's a shame.

They've come so close to making a deal in the past I would imagine that some kind of agreement could be hammered out. What was the exact area of the proposed buffer zone that queered the deal? I can't remember. 50 yards? 100 meters? Something really tiny like that.

[Scurrilous]

7. U.S. officials: Cheney was kept abreast of Israel-Syria talks

<snip>

"Senior American government officials received regular reports of the secret meetings that took place in Europe between a former Israeli official and a Syrian representative, Haaretz has learned.

Senior officials in Washington told Haaretz that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was kept in the picture about these indirect talks between Syria and Israel.

Ibrahim (Ayeb) Suleiman, the Syrian representative, also said this at his meetings with former Foreign Ministry director general Alon Liel, adding that Cheney had made no move to stop him from participating in the talks. Suleiman is a Washington resident.

A document that Dr. Nimrod Novik, a former political advisor to Vice Premier Shimon Peres, disseminated last October to members of the Council for Peace and Security also said that Washington knew about the talks. "While the administration is taking care not to broadcast a U-turn in its approach as long as the president has not given it an explicit green light, the signs of a change in direction are multiplying," Novik wrote."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/814534.html