Leftist Meretz party leader Yossi Beilin said in remarks quoted Sunday that the government's refusal to explore a reported overture by Syria represented "diplomatic dereliction of duty" and blindness on the part of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Beilin was responding to news reports that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mualem had said "The war in Lebanon has created a genuine opportunity for peace and for solving the problems of the region."

Army Radio Sunday quoted Beilin as saying that Israel's refusal to examine repeated statements from Damascus represented diplomatic dereliction of duty.

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"If Olmert continues to tread the path of blindness and arrogance, this will lead us into another armed confrontation," Beilin was quoted as telling the radio.

Mualem was quoted at the weekend as saying that although an opportunity had been created to deal with the Middle East conflict, he believed that the international community would fail to take advantage of the opportunity, as a result of Israeli pressure and American hegemony.

"I believe that the opportunity will not be exploited and will wither, and the dangers in the area will increase," Mualem was quoted as saying.

Mualem also reiterated Syria's opposition to the deployment of an international force on the Syrian-Lebanese border, saying that Damascus would oversee the frontier, long used as a route to channel arms to Hezbollah.