SYRIA EXTENDS BARBED OLIVE BRANCH

Assad overture rebuffed (JTA)
Israel rebuffed a peace-or-else ultimatum issued by Syrian President Bashar Assad. Assad told a German newspaper Sunday that his country sought peace with Israel but could resort to war if necessary, an apparent reference to Syria’s bedrock demand that it regain all of the Golan Heights under any accord.

“I don’t say that Israel should be wiped off the map. We want to make peace with Israel,” Assad told Der Spiegel. “But my personal opinion, my hopes for peace, could change one day. And if this hope disappears, then war may really be the only solution.”

The comments were rejected by Israeli officials, who have long insisted that Syria should not impose preconditions for peace. “Assad has to decide what he is looking for. You cannot talk peace and threaten war at the same time,” Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Israel Radio on Monday. He also said Syria’s alliances with Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah undermine Assad’s credibility as a peacemaker.

Why the Syrian peace overture is not genuine (Zionist.com)
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualem Saturday indicated his nation is ready to resume some kind of peace process with Israel. That news got Israeli ultra-leftists, some foreign diplomats, and the mainstream media all excited.

But this purported peace overture must be seen as a deception, just like every one before it.

First of all, it was not made in a spirit of mutual responsibility and bilateral give-and-take. Rather, al-Mualem indicated the peace process must be resumed on Arab terms, which the international community will have to impose upon Israel and its American allies.

“If (the international community) has the desire and the decisiveness to do so, it could turn this into a real chance for peace, and fix the region’s problems. If the international community decides not to, because of Israeli and dominating US pressure, I am certain that this opportunity will be lost.”

Second, Damascus continues to harbor and assist organizations openly dedicated to the destruction of Israel, such as Hamas, which has its international headquarters in the Syrian capital. As Israel has communicated repeatedly, if Syria was truly interested in a true peace, it would end its relationship with such groups.

One must also keep in mind that had the Lebanon war ended differently - say, with Hizb’allah’s demise at the hands of Israel - Syria would not be talking “peace,” but urging the international community to censure Israel, or worse.

The Arab world is only ready to talk because it perceives Israel has having been defeated, or at least held at bay, by a far inferior military force. It’s peace overtures must be seen in this light.

There is an underlying belief throughout the Arab world that Israel is finally weak enough to be defeated militarily. The only thing that remains is for the Arabs to get their pieces set in advantageous positions. Israel’s control of the dominating Golan Heights and the central hill regions of Judea and Samaria pose nearly insurmountable defensive hurdles.

If Israel can be strongarmed through negotiations to surrender these areas, and its military is still perceived as too weak even to crush Hizb’allah, it will be only a matter of time (and a very short matter of time at that) until the next pan-Arab effort to annihilate the Jewish state.

Their appetites are whetted. Will the world help to set the table?