Josh Marshall picks up a telling bit from Ha’aretz about the U.S. efforts to block a Syrian-Israeli peace deal.
When I interviewed Bashar Assad a few years ago, he told me that his father and Yitzak Rabin had gotten “98.5% of the way” toward a peace agreement. “The only outstanding issues were water rights and Sha’aba farms,” he said, referring to a piece of land disputed by Syria and Lebanon as well as Israel. He said he’d happily resume talks from where his father and Rabin had left them.
The problem, at that point, was not so much the U.S. as Ariel Sharon, who was focused on leaving Gaza. Apparently, Ehud Olmert is more amenable to a deal now. This is a deal that a) could lead to progress in getting Hamas–whose militant wing is located in Damascus–to recognize Israel and b) be a major step toward prying Syria away from its alliance with the Iranians. That the U.S. is discouraging these talks is simply unbelievable. No, it’s all too believable in an administration that has never understood or valued diplomacy.