Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday evening that it was possible to negotiate a peace deal between Israel and Syria, days ahead of his visit to mediator Turkey to advance the indirect peace talks.
"A peace treaty between Israel and Syria is feasible," said Olmert at a conference of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.
"Syria does not necessarily want to be part of the axis of evil," he said. "Syria wants to reconnect with the West and the United States. Removing Syria from the axis of evil is an Israeli interest."
An Israeli-Syrian peace deal will bring "substantial advantages" to the Jewish state, said the prime minister.
"A peace treaty would lower the possibility of war, break the strategic ties between Damascus and Tehran, lead to the expulsion of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas headquarters from Syria and would stop the cash flow to Hezbollah," said Olmert.
The prime minister stressed that though he could not guarantee success of a peace process with Syria, it was important to try.
"How will we know if we don't try? How can we try if we are not prepared to take any risks?" he asked.
On the indirect Israeli-Syrian peace talks mediated by Turkey, Olmert said that the talks were important and could lead to direct negotiations.
"The Turkey-brokered indirect talks with Syria are pivotal. They have proven that real negotiations are doable," said the prime minister.
Shortly before Olmert's speech, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told Xinhua that Olmert would visit Turkey next week to advance the peace talks between Israel and Syria.
According to Regev, Olmert will meet Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Monday to discuss various issues, including the Israeli-Syrian peace talks and the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Olmert, who will remain in power as caretaker premier before a new government is formed after the February parliamentary election, is eager to see progress in the diplomatic process with Syria before his term in office comes to an end.
Earlier in the day, local daily Ha'aretz reported on its website that Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said that he is working to advance peace talks with Syria.
"I am taking action to advance peace in the real world, not in an imaginary one. I am active more than anyone else in trying to reach peace with Syria," said Barak in a special interview with Ha'aretz.
He was currently working together with Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin to advance peace talks with Syria, added the defense minister.
Israeli lawmakers have repeatedly said the talks with Syria should be put on hold until a new government is established after the parliamentary election.
Four rounds of indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria have been carried out since both of them confirmed in mid-May the renewal of the peace process. Yet a fifth round, originally planned in September, has been delayed due to Israel's political turmoil.
The peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, still technically at war with each other, foundered in 2000 when then Israeli Prime Minister and now Defense Minister Ehud Barak refused Damascus' request for Israel's full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel seized in 1967 and annexed in 1981 with no recognition of the international community.
The Syrian government has insisted that the peace talks can be resumed only on the basis that Israel return the Golan while Israel, for its part, has demanded that Syria abandon its support for Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups.
(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2008)