US says 'NO' to Israel-Syria peace talks

Source: Ha'aretz
Feb 23, 2007

Israeli officials say that when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited this week, she forcefully demanded that Israel refrain from talking peace with Syria.

The reasons given by Rice all had to do with Syria's efforts to undermine American interests in the region, including:

• Syria's refusal to curb the flow of militants through its border into Iraq;
• Syria's role in undermining the Lebanese government;
• Syria's open alliance with Iran;
• And Syria's facilitating of Hizb'allah's rehabilitation.

While some of those points are also in line with Israeli interests, Damascus' ongoing support for "Palestinian" terror groups was apparently not on the list of reasons to not talk to Syria.

Interestingly, ten years ago, when Syria was only threatening Israel and not US interests, Washington was the chief advocate of Israeli-Syrian peace talks.