By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israel takes peace negotiations with Syria seriously and is preparing for them rigorously, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday morning at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
“They (negotiations) will be held according to the current reality, not according to the situation ten years ago, according to today’s diplomatic sensitivities, and not according to what took place in the past,” local daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Olmert as saying.
This is how negotiations were held in the past, both on the Palestinian level and on the Syrian level, according to the prime minister.
Israel has experience in holding negotiations, Olmert said, defending the need for a certain level of secrecy.
“Ever since the announcement was made, we have heard many speculations and interpretations,” Olmert said, “I would like to say at this time that we have no plans to hold negotiations through the media or by blowing slogans, but rather by using the required caution and responsibility.”
Israel and Syria simultaneously announced on Wednesday that they began dialogues under Turkey’s auspices with a goal of reaching a comprehensive peace, the first confirmation of diplomatic contacts between the two neighbors in eight years.
Peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, which are technically at war, broke off in 2000, when then Israeli Prime Minister and now Defense Minister Ehud Barak refused Syria’s request to fully withdraw from the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel seized in 1967 and annexed in 1981.
Israel and Syria will carry out the next round of Turkey-mediated peace negotiations in the coming weeks, Turkish and Israeli officials said Friday.
“The two parties agreed to meet regularly. The next round will be in Istanbul in a week or in 10 days,” said a Turkish official, while Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev also expected a round of Israeli-Syrian talks in Turkey shortly.
Following the first round of renewed talks earlier last week, Turkish officials said both sides have understood that any future peace agreement would include Israel’s full withdrawal from the Golan Heights and Syria’s distancing itself from Iran and militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. E