Contrary to hopes earlier this year of a peace deal between Israel and Syria, the two countries are as far apart as ever and most Israelis have reacted with indifference and cynicism to the prospect of returning the occupied Golan heights to the Syrians.

Indeed, the belief among many Israelis is that Prime Minister Ehud Omert’s announcement earlier this year that Israel has been secretly negotiating a peace treaty with Syria is nothing less than a diversionary tactic to distract public attention from the latest police inquiry into allegations that he received nearly $2,00,000 from a wealthy Jewish American businessman who claims Olmert demanded cash and perks from him over some 15 years. Says Michael Oren, a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem: “If this is indeed Olmert’s tactic, he may have learned it from his mentor, Ariel Sharon. Right-wing opinion in this country still insists that Sharon unilaterally evacuated Gaza in 2005 in order to escape indictment on charges similar to those now facing Olmert.”

According to one public opinion poll, 70 per cent of Israelis oppose surrendering the Golan to Syria in exchange for peace. Fifty-eight per cent of Israelis believe that Olmert is only conducting negotiations to divert the public’s attention away from the latest corruption probe against him.

The response from the Olmert camp is that a peace treaty with Syria would serve Israel’s national interests because it would remove Damascus from the influence of Iran and distance it from the militants of Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “Any peace deal between Israel and Syria would dramatically change the face of the Middle East, in particular by isolating Iran,” said cabinet minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer.

... contd.