By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday denied outright the Syrian claim that Israel had already agreed to cede the Golan Heights during their talks.
“No obligations were offered – either spoken or in writing – to Syria,” Olmert was quoted by local daily Jerusalem Post as saying. “All I said from February 2007 until May 2008 was ‘I know what you want and you know what I want.'”
Olmert made the remarks during an appearance Monday at the Knesset (parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to discuss his diplomatic and defense policy, particularly in light of the recent revelation that Israel has been conducting secret negotiations with Syria.
Olmert added that he could prove that all four of the previous Israeli prime ministers had held negotiations with Syria and had been “ready to offer extremely painful concessions.”
“Everybody who has sat on my side of the table as prime minister understands that this kind of thing must be done with the maximum level possible of carefulness,” he said.
Olmert said on Sunday morning at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting that Israel takes peace negotiations with Syria seriously and is preparing for them rigorously.
“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,” Olmert said.
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 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 Israel and Syria 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.