A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

June 8, 2007 Talks With Syria

Barak Even With Ayalon- Peres Leads For PresidencyThe item that interested Israeli political commentators today was whether Prime Minister Olmert has made an offer to President Assad of Syria to begin negotiations. Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Acharanot reported this morning that Olmert has indeed sent a message to Assad that Israel would be willing to give up the Golan Heights in return for peace.

Israeli Television Channel 10's commentator Avi Zarkaroff stated that the IDF supports the idea of peace talks with Syria and is willing to give up the strategic depth of the Golan for peace. He reported that they current Chief-of-Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, had supported the previous efforts at reaching peace with Syria and was disappointed that they had failed. Zakaroff also reported that the largely held view that the previous talks had failed over the question a few hundred feet and Assad's access to the Kinneret, was misreported. It turns out that since 1967, the Kinneret has substantially receded and thus even if Israel were to return to the exact 1967 borders instead of the mandatory borders, Syria would not have access to the Kinneret.