By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Thursday that Syria must renounce its “support of terror” in order to realize peace with Israel.
“Israel wants to live in peace with its neighbors, but Syria also needs to understand that it needs full renunciation of supporting terror, (namely) Hezbollah, Hamas and of course Iran,” she said at the onset of a meeting with visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
While the top diplomat of Israel made the remarks, her Syrian counterpart Walid Moallem reiterated Syria’s demand for Israel’s full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, saying Syria would not advance negotiations without such a commitment.
“Syria cannot progress even one step forward in negotiations before it receives assurances that Israel will fully withdraw from the Golan Heights,” he told London-based daily Al Hayat. “This is not a precondition, it’s Syria’s right.”
Israel and Syria simultaneously announced Wednesday that they began indirect peace talks under Turkey’s auspices, eight years after the process between the two neighbors broke off due to a standstill over the issue of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981.
Turkish officials said that Israel and Syria, which are technically still at war, understand that a future peace agreement will include Israel’s full withdrawal from the Golan Heights and Syria’s distancing itself from Iran and militant groups like Hamasand Hezbollah.