Syria rejected Israel’s demand that Damascus cut its ties with Iran and Arab militant groups as a condition for a peace agreement, a state newspaper said on Saturday.
The announcement comes even as Syrian ally Hamas, a sworn foe of the Jewish state, cast doubt on the Israeli government’s ability to even deliver on a peace agreement because of the weakness of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
The remarks underline the difficulties facing the negotiations between Israel and Syria, restarted on Wednesday after an eight year hiatus. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had said on Thursday that Syria would have to stop supporting Hamas and Hezbollah and cut ties with Iran if any agreement were to happen.
Saturday’s editorial in Tishrin, which reflects official policy, said that Israel could not lay down conditions ahead of negotiations.
“Damascus does not want preconditions, that would put the cart before the horse ... It does not bargain over its relations with other countries and people,” the editorial stated.
“It goes without saying that impossible conditions cannot facilitate the work of negotiators,” said the editorial, which likened it to “putting stakes in the wheels” of the peace process.
As if to underline Israel’s concerns, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was in Tehran on Saturday, meeting with Iranian officials. While he was careful not to criticize the decision of Syria to restart negotiations, he cast doubt on their chances for success.
“[Israel] is maneuvering and playing with all the [negotiating] tracks — it’s a well known game and besides, Olmert’s weakness will not allow him to take this step,” Mashaal said.
An investigation into Olmert over corruption allegations have raised doubts about his ability to conclude a peace deal with the Palestinians by a year-end target or pursue recently confirmed peace talks with Syria.
Tzachi Hanegbi, a member of Olmert’s Kadima Party and chairman of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense committee in parliament, called on Saturday for an early election in Israel to vote on any peace deal negotiated between Syria and Israel.
Hanegbi said in an interview via telephone that his party did not run on a platform of peace with Syria and said elections would show whether Israelis really wanted a deal or not.
Hanegbi also underlined the absolute necessity of Syria cutting ties with militant groups and Iran.
“It’s understood that Syria wants to have the Golan Heights and Israel wants a total [Syrian] disassociation from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. It’s a red line, to ensure our security ... and to prevent a surprise attack,” he said.
Israel captured the plateau in the 1967 Middle East war and many Israelis see it as a valuable buffer against attack. Today, the Golan Heights are home to 18,000 Israelis who run thriving wine and tourism industries. Olmert himself vacationed there last month.
A recent poll showed that only 19 percent of Israelis were willing to cede the entire Golan Heights.
Israel and Syria are bitter enemies whose attempts at reaching peace have failed in the past. The last round of talks collapsed in 2000 because of a disagreement over a narrow strip of land along the Sea of Galilee that Israel wanted to keep to preserve its water rights.
The nations have fought three wars, their forces have clashed in Lebanon and more recently, Syria has given support to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of