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Last update - 21:30 17/09/2007
Olmert says he respects Assad, won't rule out talks
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

After eleven days of speculations regarding an alleged Israel Air Force strike on Syria, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday that he respects Syrian President Bashar Assad and is ready, under the right conditions, to launch peace talks with Damascus.

"I have a lot of respect for the Syrian leader and for Syrian policy. They have internal problems, but we have no reason to rule out dialogue with Syria," Olmert said in a briefing for Russian-language media outlets in Israel.

"As I've said in the past, we want to make peace with everyone," Olmert went on. "If the conditions ripen, we are ready to make peace with Syria, with no preconditions and no ultimate demands."

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Olmert did not respond to a question on the alleged September 6 attack, which has resulted in a slew of speculations by foreign publications. Israeli officials have remained tight-lipped about the whole affair.

According to a report in this week's London-based Sunday Times, an Israeli source said the strike came in the wake of intelligence reports suggesting Syria was been planning a "devastating surprise" for Israel. The report also claimed that Israeli ground forces were involved in the attack on a Syrian installation, which foreign sources described as a nuclear facility.

The British weekly reported the Israeli source said that planning for the strike, which the United States allegedly backed, began shortly after Mossad chief Meir Dagan presented Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in late spring, with evidence that Syria was seeking to acquire a nuclear device from North Korea.

Meretz MK Zahava Gal-On told Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Monday that he should demand Olmert provide the Knesset with details of the incident.

In a letter to Mazuz, Gal-On, who heads the Meretz Knesset faction, wrote, "In light of reports by foreign sources and the total blackout imposed by Israel on what happened or didn't happen, I am asking you to present the prime minister with his duty to report on all unusual IDF activity to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee or to one of its subcommittees."

Gal-On wrote in her letter to Mazuz on Monday that the Knesset must oversee all IDF action beyond Israel's borders, "if not in advance, then at least in retrospect." She said that if Olmert does not update the committee, then it will become a "members' club that hears briefings without the capability for real supervision."

Gal-On also referenced the Rubinstein Committee, headed by Professor Amnon Rubinstein, which scrutinized oversight of the defense establishment, and recommended the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee be aware of IDF activities in order to ensure parliamentary oversight.
At the end of the letter, Gal-On wrote that "the existence of and respect for these constitutional principles are crucial, and unrelated to the wisdom, benefit or success the government attributes to one IDF action or another."

Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin told Israel Radio that he did not support Gal-On's letter. He said he does not see cause for criticism of the matter, believing instead confidential matters should remain so.
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  1.   syria 18:43  |  paul 17/09/07
  2.   For once I agree with Islamic terror non-inhibitor Yossi Beilin 18:58  |  SLAVO 17/09/07
  3.   no they do not. what craziness is this helping the enemy. 19:00  |  ralph 17/09/07
  4.   "GENERAL" GAL-ON, LEAVE THESE MATTERS 19:07  |  Robert 17/09/07
  5.   To Zahava 19:19  |  Major R 17/09/07
  6.   DNT GIVE THEM NOTHING THEY ARE ALL LIKE BISHARA! 19:30  |  ILSupporter 17/09/07
  7.   She`s a silly blabbermouth 20:11  |  Yonatan 17/09/07
  8.   Not very praiseworthy of her 20:15  |  Jasmine Murphy 17/09/07
  9.   Why doesn`t Syria announce what the jets targeted? 20:36  |  Clarence Darrow 17/09/07
  10.   To #1-8 20:50  |  Yitz 17/09/07
  11.   beilin must GO! 20:55  |  Yossi 17/09/07
  12.   Psychological warfare backfiring 20:55  |  Joe 17/09/07
  13.   Israel Officially Rogue 21:15  |  Kevin 17/09/07
  14.   To Yitz- Secrecy and Oversight 21:19  |  Major R 17/09/07
  15.   SLAVO 21:31  |  luke 17/09/07
  16.   Joe, you`re great.. you got more of this??? 21:39  |  The Real Joe 17/09/07
  17.   #12 not so fast joe 21:40  |  Daniel 17/09/07
  18.   More politicians should loose their tongues 21:40  |  Struck Dumb 17/09/07
  19.   Gal-On calls her appetite for gossip "supervision" 21:57  |  Nathan Grossman 17/09/07
  20.   Silence is golden 22:01  |  Yonatan 17/09/07
  21.   #13 - what are you talking about ? 22:07  |  redmike 17/09/07
  22.   If there were such a "nuclear device" 22:08  |  Karma Chameleon 17/09/07
  23.   #11 - Meretz won`t be in the next government so does it matter ? 22:09  |  redmike 17/09/07
  24.   #12 - he he he - and that`s why Assad is furious ! 22:13  |  redmike 17/09/07
  25.   Zahava Gal ON 22:18  |  Peter 17/09/07
  26.   dear joe you are so full which is why pal is a failed state with 22:28  |  ralph 17/09/07
  27.   Then why has he refused to talk? 22:32  |  Mark Lincoln 17/09/07
  28.   I wonder... 22:32  |  D. 17/09/07
  29.   Gal On 22:33  |  Chaim Gorenstein 17/09/07
  30.   AMAZING OLMERT 22:42  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 17/09/07
  31.   Talks 22:57  |  P. J. Casey 17/09/07
  32.   Olmert has a lot of respect... 23:23  |  Pat 17/09/07
  33.   Fool me once, shame on me.. 23:25  |  Tosefta 17/09/07
  34.   Respect Assad? 23:28  |  Chick 17/09/07
  35.   #9 Ahh, so the Syrians have to prove a negative, Clarence 23:34  |  Johnboy 17/09/07
  36.   Respecting Assad 23:38  |  Chris 17/09/07
  37.   Mk ZAHAVA GAL-ON 23:40  |  sam uil manski 17/09/07
  38.   Olmert - Supposedly, Respects everyone, But Respected by Nobody 23:44  |  Tod Zuckerman 17/09/07
  39.   2 repect Assad,some1 is very sick 23:51  |  sam 17/09/07
  40.   CHUTZPAH 00:10  |  indrajaya 18/09/07
  41.   #12. Joey.I think you got a point there. 00:42  |  Billy Boy 18/09/07
  42.   Israel Better Respect Assad 00:49  |  Mohammed 18/09/07
  43.   Destruction of Syrian Armaments Is Justifiable Self-Defense! 00:50  |  MIKE 18/09/07
  44.   syria 00:56  |  paul 18/09/07
  45.   To#1-8 00:59  |  paul 18/09/07
  46.   Psykologos 01:03  |  paul 18/09/07
  47.   #32 Tosefta 01:03  |  Realist 18/09/07
  48.   olmerde 01:07  |  paul 18/09/07
  49.   Can`t Balme Israel 01:13  |  Brenda 18/09/07
  50.   Re: MIKE from NYC 01:51  |  Anthony 18/09/07
  51.   Re: Chriss 01:53  |  Anthony 18/09/07
  52.   #41 MIKE`s rather odd justification 01:58  |  Johnboy 18/09/07
  53.   #35 Chris 02:01  |  Fred Michaelsberg 18/09/07
  54.   #24 redmike seems to have missed an important point 02:06  |  Johnboy 18/09/07
  55.   #41 02:16  |  Iamashamed 18/09/07
  56.   OLMERT again shows us why he is Israeli`s village idiot 02:35  |  Kipperraes 18/09/07
  57.   To Anthony & Johnboy 04:34  |  MIKE 18/09/07
  58.   "The Jews" 04:53  |  MIKE 18/09/07
  59.   To Mike 05:39  |  Mohammed 18/09/07
  60.   # 30. Cipora Julianna Kohn 08:34  |  Uri 18/09/07
  61.   #57 OK, so you can`t see past your own prejudices MIKE. 13:15  |  Johnboy 18/09/07
  62.   Syria isn`t justified in any way! 22:43  |  Paul 18/09/07
  63.   Olmerts memory 02:16  |  Paul 19/09/07
  64.   Secrecy 02:20  |  Paul 19/09/07
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