Haaretz's Yossi Verter suggests that what Prime Minister Netanyahu may really want is to become the next Ariel Sharon, with Ehud Barak playing the role of Shimon Peres. Some even speculate that Netanyahu, like Sharon, is planning a far-reaching political move that will enable him, buoyed by wide public support, to break Likud up once again on the eve on the next elections and establish the new Likud with his partner Ehud Barak. The latter, at least, would be glad to leave his ailing party... Read Full Story
French President Nicolas Sarkozy tried to breathe life into the Middle East peace process Friday, hosting his Syrian counterpart just two days after talks with the Israeli prime minister. President Bashar al-Assad arrived at the Elysee Palace in Paris boasting of a new "climate of trust" in relations with France, but without having directly responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer of new talks. Relations between France and Syria have been warming since Assad paid a... Read Full Story
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said Friday that he had no "Israeli partner" ready to push forward the Middle East peace process, rebuffing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer of talks. Accusing Netanyahu of not being serious about peace, Assad told reporters he was not willing to hold face-to-face negotiations with the Israeli leader and called instead for lower-level dialogue under Turkish mediation. "If Mr Netanyahu is serious, he can send a team of experts, and we'll send a team... Read Full Story
PARIS (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that U.S. President Barack Obama should come up with a firm plan of action to renew peace talks between Syria and Israel. In an interview with French daily Le Figaro published on Friday, Assad said the dialogue initiated by Obama's administration had not gone "beyond an exchange of views." "There has not been an executive plan," he said. Assad is due to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday, hot on the heels of Israeli Prime... Read Full Story
Syrian President Bashar Assad on Friday questioned Israel's will to restart peace talks and suggested that a summit meeting between the two sides would be useless. He welcomed renewed indirect discussions mediated by Turkey, but appeared to dismiss suggestions of a direct meeting with Israel's prime minister. "What would we talk about, the menu or the return of land?" Assad told reporters after talks and lunch with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "Me, I say we would talk about returning... Read Full Story
The French president says his country is ready to mediate between Syria and Israel and warns that extremists could benefit from a continued deadlock in the Mideast peace process. Nicolas Sarkozy says he has conveyed his offer to "facilitate talks" to Syrian President Bashar Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel and Syria had indirect peace talks last year through Turkish mediators. But they broke off over the Gaza war that ended in January. Sarkozy was speaking in an... Read Full Story
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Monday he was "very close" to reaching a peace agreement with Israel before a new right-wing government assumed power at the end of March. "We were very close to reaching an agreement with the Israeli side, and then the new government came and said we had to start from zero," he said, referring to hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. "We sat and negotiated with the Israelis over drawing borders and we negotiated these borders with... Read Full Story
President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that Syria was not setting conditions on making peace with Israel, but that it did have rights that must be restored, the official SANA news agency reported. "Resistance (to Israeli occupation) forms the core of our policy, both in the past and in the future. We do not put forward conditions on making peace, but we do have rights that we will not renounce," he told a meeting of Arab political parties. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in... Read Full Story
Turkey is ready to oversee a new stage of secret peace talks between Israel and Syria, resuming a role it had played until last year, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said here Friday. Historically Israel's only friend in the Middle East, Ankara has in recent years served as a conduit for diplomatic exchanges between the Jewish state and its arch foe Damascus about improving relations. But Turkey was angered by Israel's behaviour in the January 2008 conflict in Gaza and ties have become... Read Full Story
Israel said on Wednesday that commandos had intercepted a ship carrying "hundreds of tonnes" of arms from Iran to Hezbollah in a raid dozens of miles off its coast but both Iran and Syria denied the cargo was headed to the Lebanese militia. "We found dozens of containers, with hundreds of tonnes of arms bound for Hezbollah from Iran," Israeli deputy naval commander Rani Ben Yehuda told reporters. The shipment was among the largest ever seized by Israel, dwarfing the 50 tonnes of weapons... Read Full Story
