Israel Matzav

Take a letter, Abdullah, I gotta start a new life

To put you into the mood for this post here's a vintage 1969 song that I have apparently used before (YouTube showed it as "previously viewed"). Let's go to the videotape.



YNet is reporting based on 'an Arab source' that if Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with Jordan's King Abdullah before Netanyahu's trip to Washington on Saturday night, the King of Palestine will have a letter for Netanyahu from the chinless ophthalmologist of Damascus. There is no indication of what is in the letter. Israel insists that any talks with Syria be held 'without preconditions' (via Memeorandum).

The Arab source, an official with ties in both Amman and Damascus, has previously reported on the indirect talks between Assad and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. He added that the Syrian president was trying to showcase his positive intentions following US President Barack Obama's decision to renew the sanctions on his country last week.

...

The signals from Damascus have so far not garnered enthusiastic reactions in Jerusalem. Netanyahu's people have been careful to put the emphasis on the renewed American sanctions and the fact that Syria has demanded Israel's withdrawal from the Golan Heights as a prerequisite to additional dialogue between the two countries.

The window of opportunity, however, will not be shut from Jerusalem's side of things. High-ranking officials said on Wednesday night that Netanyahu returned from his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at Sharm el-Sheikh talking of the necessity of adopting a regional peace agreement.

As for Syria, the officials reiterated that any negotiations must be held without preconditions. They also noted Netanyahu's recent speech at the Likud minister's forum, in which he explicitly vowed that Israel would not cede the Golan.

The problem here isn't just that the Syrians don't understand the meaning of the words "without preconditions." Like the 'Palestinians,' they also don't understand the meaning of the word "negotiations." To the Syrians, the entire idea of sitting at a table with Israelis is a zero-sum game in which one side wins and the other side loses. Until they drop that attitude (which is unlikely because they are totally sold on the absolute justice of their cause) and start looking for outcomes that will satisfy both sides, negotiations with the Syrians will go nowhere. And now that it has apparently been proven that the Syrians are manufacturing chemical and biological weapons at the former al-Kibar nuclear plant, don't look for the Obama administration to pressure Netanyahu to sit down with them (which, of course, is why Assad is sending this letter in the first place - he knows he's not going to get any help from Obama without getting rid of those weapons of mass destruction).

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:01 AM