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Go for it, Olmert By Yoel Marcus Advertisement Our practice with Arab leaders has been that we never pay attention to what they say publicly. We didn't take Sadat seriously when he declared he was willing to sacrifice a million soldiers to recover land in Sinai. We didn't believe him, and got zapped with the Yom Kippur War. We didn't believe Sadat when he declared that he was willing to appear in person in the Knesset to bring peace. He surprised us again: He came and addressed the Knesset. Our luck was that Menachem Begin was the prime minister at the time, and not Golda Meir, who never believed a word that came out of an Arab leader's mouth. If Golda was in power back then, the first question she would have asked was what he planned to say in the Knesset. The visit would never have happened. Begin didn't care what Sadat would say in the Knesset. What was important in his mind was the historic breakthrough of a peace treaty with Israel's greatest and most powerful foe. For better or for worse, the peace treaty with Egypt, which brought in its wake a peace treaty with Jordan, has held up for 30 years. To the credit of Yitzhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, let it be said that they all strove to make peace with Syria with varying degrees of enthusiasm so we could finally become a country with recognized and viable borders, and they did so in the belief that it would be easier to solve the Palestinian problem when Israel was at peace with countries that had plotted to destroy it. All these endeavors failed, both because then president Hafez Assad played tough and because Israel fell in love with the Golan Heights and its charms, not to mention the defense establishment's refusal to give up the Golan for strategic reasons. According to Erdogan, Assad wants the talks to start at a low level, and only when positive results are achieved to have the leaders of the two countries meet. This low-level approach is doomed from the start. The greatness of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty was that the end was known in advance. Sadat knew he would receive all of Sinai, and Israel knew there would be a contractual peace agreement. Working out the nitty-gritty was indeed a nightmare that dragged on for a year and a half, until a formal treaty was signed on the White House lawn. In retrospect, if the process had begun with low-ranking officials haggling over the details without knowing what lay at the end, the talks would have gone bust. Ultimately, that is what has happened in various encounters with the Syrians. Assad's proposal is the sort of thing where you need to find out the end first. Syria has formal rights to the Golan Heights in the same way that Egypt had formal rights to Sinai. From our perspective, the Golan - like Sinai - is not part of the Greater Israel dream. We are not sentimentally bound to it as a holy place. What we have are bitter memories of bloodshed caused by Syrian aggression and infiltrating tanks. Our experience with Syria's keeping its promises with respect to military activity along the border has been satisfactory. The trouble is that while Syria may not be involved in any incidents outright, it has become a lifeline for Hezbollah, providing patronage, money and missiles, from Iran and its own arsenals. Syria plays host to the masterminds of Palestinian terrorism in Damascus and, above all, threatens us with its strategic alliance with Iran. A peace agreement with Syria is the kind of thing that Israeli leaders need to examine under a microscope. It must include evicting Palestinian terror chiefs from Syria, an end to arming Hezbollah and, most importantly, severing strategic ties with Iran. There is nothing that could create a more positive change in the Middle East than a peace accord between Israel and Syria. If Assad understands what is required of him, and he really wants it, that is stronger than any Israeli leader afraid that concessions on the Golan Heights will be rejected by the Knesset opposition or Israeli public opinion. Go for it, Olmert. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Deterring Tehran Bush: Disclosure of IAF strike on Syria sends a message to Iran. A lesser evil In Haaretz issue from 1932, Hitler makes a better impression than expected.   1.   mr. marcus` wise words recall in me the words... 07:11  |  saul a. readner 29/04/08   2.   Marcus is wrong....again (for the thousanth time) 11:24  |  Baruch Gold 29/04/08   3.   `go for it` 11:33  |  elliot 29/04/08   4.   I do not agree w Marcus nor do a majority of Israel`s lawmakers.. 12:59  |  Registered Nurse 29/04/08   5.   WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF "PEACE" 15:03  |  Jay A Friedman 29/04/08   6.   Haaretz is like an off-side compass 15:57  |  Nat 29/04/08   7.   A treaty is but a piece of paper. The idea of ceding our Golan He 16:02  |  Chaim 29/04/08   8.   Iran on the golan? Grrreat idea indeed !!! 17:03  |  trumpeldor 29/04/08   9.   Marcus` Track Record ? Sub-Abysmal 19:27  |  Tod Zuckerman 29/04/08   10.   THOSE OF YOU WHO RIDICULE MARCUS AND OTHERS WHO WANT HAVE PEACE - 19:12  |  MISTER X 29/04/08   11.   ANY ISRAEL-SYRIAN SETTLEMENT MUST BE BASED ON "HATAY" MODEL 20:02  |  Joel Stein 29/04/08   12.   Give Up The Golan ? Are You Drinking Cool Aid ? 22:12  |  Billy the Jew 29/04/08   13.   to Billy the Jew #12 - have you fallen on your head? 01:10  |  zeev 30/04/08   14.   #10 Mr. X. Ceding one`s land for paper is ridiculous. 01:20  |  Chaim 30/04/08   15.   to Joel Stein #11 03:42  |  zeev 30/04/08   16.   The Golan Heights 04:44  |  Rozz 30/04/08

Read & React PM: Remorse for Gaza dead, but Hamas put victims at risk Responses: 331 Amos Harel: IDF acting as if no Hamas truce on horizon Responses: 130 Bush: Disclosure of IAF strike on Syria sends message to Iran Responses: 69 Hitler made a splash with Jewish press in pre-state Palestine Responses: 139 Iran official warns of 'danger' of Barbie, Harry Potter toys Responses: 76 More Headlines 02:44 Top Syrian emissary: Israel peace won't cut our Iran ties 02:50 Israel objects to outline of Gaza cease-fire deal 05:28 Disgruntled former employee may have carried out deadly Nitzanei Oz shooting 00:19 Bush: Disclosure of IAF strike on Syria sends message to Iran 04:59 Jewish partisans remembered; their story to hit the big screen later this year 03:44 Nadine Gordimer defends decision to attend J'lem writers conference 02:25 Israeli-Palestinian paper criticizes 10 W. Bank roadblocks 03:51 ANALYSIS: Livni and Aboul Gheit starting to sing harmonious duet 02:11 IDF insists Gaza mother, four children killed by militants' explosives, not shell 02:17 IDF chief pays tribute to ghetto fighters in Warsaw 02:40 Health Min. official: Israel should not be on intellectual property blacklist 02:39 U.S. Jewish leaders call for boycott of Beijing Olympics 23:33 WJC chief Lauder implores Swiss to cancel Iran gas deal 03:09 Prince Charles and Camilla open Jewish community center in Krakow Previous Editions Select Day 29 apr 28 apr 27 apr 25 apr 24 apr 23 apr 22 apr 21 apr 20 apr 18 apr 17 apr 16 apr

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