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Last update - 19:57 03/11/2008
Mazuz: Syria talks can go on even as government prepares for elections
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Golan, Israel news 

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ruled on Sunday that there were no legal obstacles preventing Israel from proceeding with negotiations with Syria during even as the government approaches transition.

Mazuz emphasized that every significant diplomatic agreement made on the matter must still be brought before the cabinet and the Knesset for ratification.

Responding to a query on the matter by MK Limor Livnat (Likud), Mazuz said that according to a 2001 Supreme Court ruling, a transition government faces no official legal restriction to its authority.
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Nevertheless, Mazuz warned that lawmakers must act with a degree of restraint appropriate to an outgoing government.

Meanwhile, outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert has expressed willingness to negotiate the Golan Heights borders in exchange for direct talks with Syria, a diplomatic source in Jerusalem said late Saturday night.

According to the source, Syria has demanded and Israeli commitment to the "Rabin deposit" - former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's reported pledge to U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher in 1995. The pledge states that Israel commits to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which it captured during the 1967 Six-Day War, in exchange for firm security guarantees from Damascus.

Olmert rejected the demand, deferring a discussion on the topic until after a fifth round of indirect peace talks.

Talks between Israel and Syria collapsed in 2000 after Damascus declined an Israeli offer to withdraw from the territory, saying the Israeli offer did not encompass the full territory. Olmert recently renewed contact via indirect talks with Syria, mediated by Turkey. On Friday, reports surfaced indicating that Olmert has vowed to set a date for a fifth round of indirect talks.

Talks have been frozen for the past few months due to political turmoil in Israel, but in light of the fact that an alternative government was not established and early elections are planned, Olmert has decided to renew the talks in his few remaining months in office.

One option that was raised in place of the Rabin deposit, the source said, is an Israeli vow to negotiate the borders of the Golan, which in turn has garnered a more obscure promise from the Syrians which does not include severing ties with terror organizations.

Last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad relayed a message to Israel, indicating that he was willing to renew indirect talks under Turkish mediation.

Olmert's decision to resume indirect negotiations with Syria is acceptable if he confines the talks to "maintenance," but not if he aspires to make actual decisions, Foreign Minister and Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni said on Friday.

"We need to examine whether we are talking solely about routine maintenance of the negotiations, in which case there is no problem," she said. "However, if we are talking about an attempt to determine facts on the ground before the election, that is inappropriate and unacceptable."

In contrast to Livni - who, as Kadima's prime ministerial candidate in the upcoming election, might be held responsible by the voters for anything that Olmert, a fellow Kadima member, does - Labor Party chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that while he considered the chances of any breakthrough to be low at a time when both Israel and America have lame-duck governments, it made sense to continue the talks, "as long as this is done in a thought-out, responsible, precise and controlled manner."

"Syria could be a peace partner, and there is a chance that this would also lead to an agreement with the Lebanese," he explained. "And we, as responsible leaders, must not miss this opportunity."

Industry Minister Eli Yishai, whose Shas Party is the third member of Olmert's coalition, took the hardest line against the proposed resumption of negotiations. "Talks with Syria grant legitimacy to the axis of evil," he said. "This is a move that weakens our country's endurance."

Related articles:
  • Livni: Syria must cut Iran, terror ties before we give it what it wants
  • Turkey: Syria-Israel talks to continue with Livni in charge
  • Official: Latest Israel-Syria talks end in 'positive atmosphere'
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      1.   OLMERT IS OUT 09:43  |  Alka Seltzer 02/11/08
      2.   olmert is a "dead man walking" 11:17  |  Elliott 02/11/08
      3.   Olmert 12:06  |  Ralph 02/11/08
      4.   Jerk Rabin has entanglend Israel into a surrender web 12:16  |  Absolute Sweden 02/11/08
      5.   He wants to leave a legacy 12:19  |  Jackie 02/11/08
      6.   #4, Absolute Sweeden 12:34  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 02/11/08
      7.   Where is MAZUZ ? INDICT OLMERT NOW! 12:42  |  Dagma 02/11/08
      8.   Livni may be the one held responsible ..... 12:58  |  Pathfinder 02/11/08
      9.   To 6 Cipora Julianna Kohn - Who said....? 13:15  |  Natasha 02/11/08
      10.   #9, Natasha 13:32  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 02/11/08
      11.   Olmert has no mandate! 13:51  |  Yaakov K. 02/11/08
      12.   Golan 14:25  |  Merom & Yochee 02/11/08
      13.   Grade "b" Horror plot 14:48  |  sz 02/11/08
      14.   Oldmert reminds me of a convict, right before he is going to jail 14:50  |  tz 02/11/08
      15.   Saudi Plan for Comprehensive Peace is Best for all. This endless. 14:59  |  Arab Druzi 02/11/08
      16.   #2-More like `dead man talking` 15:28  |  Arie 02/11/08
      17.   Ehud 1: 15:45  |  Zack 02/11/08
      18.   Sorry Dagma, but you need to understand Mazus position 15:50  |  JP 02/11/08
      19.   For Israel, it is of paramount importance not to abandon the ... 16:03  |  Jean Van Daem 02/11/08
      20.   Olmert Must Leave 16:09  |  Ron 02/11/08
      21.   send Leiberman to the negotiations 16:23  |  9612 02/11/08
      22.   The Knesset can remove Olmert and elect a caretaker PM 16:29  |  Realist 02/11/08
      23.   Israel must accept the arab peace initiative 16:29  |  antoine 02/11/08
      24.   Olmert We Want You To Do Nothing Period 16:55  |  Living In Rishon 02/11/08
      25.   DOUBLE HORROR - OLMERT AND OBAMA 17:04  |  Barry S. Roffman 02/11/08
      26.   Peace for Peace 17:21  |  Great White North 02/11/08
      27.   There is no question of a war with Iran before peace with Syria 17:42  |  Natallie Durson 02/11/08
      28.   Now We Understand Why Mazuz Won`t Indict Olmert 18:16  |  Shepherd 02/11/08
      29.   Israeli Courts 18:32  |  Ron 02/11/08
      30.   Assad is only in a position to.... 18:45  |  Moshe Hazan 02/11/08
      31.   # 29 ron 18:56  |  Axel 02/11/08
      32.   Right on Shepherd !! Mazuz has disgraced his position. 18:59  |  Sarah 02/11/08
      33.   It`s legal: Transitional PM has no limitations imposed by law 19:14  |  Observer 02/11/08
      34.   Hello Realist, It would have been done if Peres 19:16  |  Sarah 02/11/08
      35.   BBC report:Ossetis(Russia) has diverted water away from Georgia 19:18  |  Absolute Sweden 02/11/08
      36.   Overall... 19:22  |  Esther 02/11/08
      37.   Moshe Hazan # 30 The Syrians Want More Than The Golan 19:56  |  Jeff Northridge 02/11/08
      38.   Natallie 19:57  |  MC 02/11/08
      39.   But MC #38... 20:53  |  Esther 02/11/08
      40.   The Knesset can still remove Olmert (reply to 34) 20:57  |  Realist 02/11/08
      41.   PM in chief 21:43  |  Brod 02/11/08
      42.   The government can`t appoint judges ... 22:02  |  Marty 02/11/08
      43.   mandate? #11 23:35  |  A.M. 02/11/08
      44.   31 Axel 23:55  |  Ron 02/11/08
      45.   #37 How odd, Jeff.... 00:42  |  Johnboy 03/11/08
      46.   Its very similar to Churchill trying to stop Chamberlain in 38 00:53  |  Ken Jurist 03/11/08
      47.   When Legal override moral , the Vice of harlot takes over. 06:25  |  Joseph.E 03/11/08
      48.   waisting time 07:19  |  tom 03/11/08
      49.   Mazuz`s biased self interest flip flop 13:04  |  Sarah 03/11/08
      50.   Syria Desperate For Water not Peace 21:01  |  Stephen Hughes 03/11/08
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