Israel 'ready to return Golan'

I was surprised to hear this, but it came from a credible source, the BBC.

Israel has passed a message to Syria that it would withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for peace, according to a Syrian government minister.

The expatriates minister, Buthaina Shaaban, said the message had been passed on by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

She said Mr Erdogan had informed the Syrian President Bashar Assad of the offer by telephone on Tuesday morning.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has declined to comment.

news.bbc.co.uk...


Why would Israel give up the high ground after they fought so hard to get it

If it's true it's a great start, but for some reason the phrase "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts" comes to mind. In this case Israelis.

Why the Israelis want to broker such a deal secretly though makes me question it's sincerity..

IMO this just shows that the Middle East is perfectly capable of solving its own problems . Overall US mediation in the region has been unhelpful and a hindrance to finding solutions. There is the odd expection(SP?) such as Carter but otherwise the US should stop meddling in the region . Carter would have made a great Secretary of state.

On the other hand I disagree with Carter decision to meet with Hamas so maybe the US should just keep its nose out of where it doesn't belong .

[edit on 24-4-2008 by xpert11]

Syria might be more amenable to moves toward peace than Hamas, and might support Israel in her efforts. As long as the Palestinians, especially Hamas, don't recognize Israel's right to even exist there can be no progress on that front.

This is most likely a move by Israel to coerce Syria into breaking any relations the Syrian government has with terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Considering in the past decade attacks have worsened against Israel from those terrorist groups, which have been supported by Syria, I think this is a good move towards a peaceful resolution between Israel and Syria. Of course Israel is still going to have to be cautious about Iran, and I'm not sure if Syria will agree to cut ties with Iran even with the return of the Golan region.

It's all about oil-security...the previously closed Mosul-Haifa pipeline is due to become active again but requires Syrian consent for the last leg of the route across it's territory through the Golan to Haifa...there are no other current export routes other than by tanker through the Straits of Hormuz, and should the strike on Iran commence, will be a much more secure route for Iraqi oil to reach the world markets

Oh Yes, it's true, Israel will be returning the Golan Heights to themselves with the help of the Taxpayers money, and the assurance from Washington that the $200 Billion for Holocaust Extortion will be dealt with extreme caution, as to not upset the recession troubles. This is what they Promised America.

A Deliberate Attack By Israel On A US Ship. The USS Liberty
For two hours the USS Liberty was attacked by Israeli jets, and three torpedo boats. The wounded were screaming in pain, bleeding everywhere. Every sailor who could help was doing all he could to calm our fallen shipmates.

judicial-inc.biz...

Handing it back to Syria still makes no sense.

The Golan Heights have thousands of Jewish people settled on the land, many farms and vineyards, plus it's an important water shed for Israel with about 17 streams or small rivers.

There is also the fact that this high ground gives Syria a clear shot at a large area of Israel, though with missiles I would guess any part of that nation is a target even without the Golan.

This move will not bring peace IMHO, it will just cause more strife between the inhabitants and clashes between the Jews, Druze, and Syrian people that live and work on the Golan Heights.