They do want, however, to break their international isolation, continue to dominate and use Lebanon and regain the Golan without 'giving' anything tangible, least of all real peace. Anyway, in this case 'land for peace' is both immoral and unworkable. Syria had used the Golan to threaten, pester and attack Israel before we took it in self defence. It would be idiotic to concede anything in response to Syria's war threats. The more serious the threat the more Israel need the Golan for our security. To demonstrate that they seek peace Syria must offer, accept and be content with a 'painful' territorial compromise.

The author proves he has learned nothing, when he says "we can assume the Syrians got the message." There's an American expression for this: If you and I assume, it will make an ASS of U and ME. How many assumptions were made last summer? Assume NOTHING. Act on facts and be prepared for the worst case.

playing coy will only get you so far... maybe he wants to split iraq with Iran - im sure its been discussed Maybe Israel can split syria with the kurds

Brilliant analysis of the situation. Bechor is right on target. Israel must always exercise its power of Deterrence. If this was been exercised properly in the past, Hezbollahtan would have been deterred from messing up with Israel. It is time Hamastan and Fatahan get the message too. And it is time the Ayatollahs get the message. Unfortunately, there is NO rationality with fanatics. Hence, the fanatical Ayatollahs will continue to work on their nukes and execute their threat of annihilating Israel once they get their hands on the tools of Armageddon.

"To demonstrate that they seek peace Syria must offer, accept and be content with a 'painful' territorial compromise. " And who will define this "compromise"? Would it be based on fair negotiations under an unbiased arbitrator, or a thrown bone with the scribble "take it or leave it"? You may think that you have the position and authority to dictate conditions, but remember that it is Syria that has the moral high ground here: its territories are illegally occupied since 1973. From our point of view, it's Israel that needs to make that painful concession and not Syria! Otherwise the expansionist Israeli regime will be dealth with accordingly. Yes, that one IS a threat, courtesy Bashar.

Hi Bilal, Am I correct in understanding that you speak for the Syrian government? Or is it just all of Syria for whom you speak? Regarding the syrian "moral high ground": HAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA! When Syria had high ground they used it to terrorize civilians! ROTFLMAO!!! Bravado! More stories from "A Thousand And One Nights"!!! (oh stop, please stop! this is too funny!)

Flashback to 1973: - Israel ATACKED by Syria, Egypt, Jordan. - Israel fighting a DEFENSIVE war defeats her enemies and in doing so captures the Golan, Sinai. Today 2007: -Arab regimes consider territories LOST during war to be occupied. I have a news flash for you arabs, lands lost during war are considered conquered and by no means have to be returned . Never in the history of the world has a country which has been attacked return conquered lands. Syria has no right to the Golan-she lost her fair and square. Grow up Syria!!! You want peace then act peaceful!! The Golan is Israel's forever-live with it.

you think&talk&we will claim golan&pelastine&quds shalom

...and as such it has no "moral high grounds" whatsoever! Syria has been attacking Israel ever since Israel gained its independence and regards Lebanon, Israel and the West Bank as "Syrian Territory". Syria has colonialist and racist ambitions and sadly, it seems that only another and final al-out war will put these fanatical ambitions to rest. Instead of moaning in Israeli forums and parrotting the slogans you read on walls in Damascus, you better act to change your mad president before it drags your country into a needless bloodshed. From our point of view, Golan heights should NOT be given back at all! Golan is the price Syria has to pay for its repeated wars and aggression and its on-going support for terror against Israel and for messing with the Lebanese. You cannot demand and expect anything after Syria behaved like a thug and tried and still tries to destroy Israel. HOWEVER - Golan heigts MAY be returned partially IF Syria proves that it changed and put the megalomaniac territorial claims in ME to rest. Losing the Golan heights should be a sore reminder to the Syrians of what happens if you think and act like a mad racist bent of regional domination. You are well advised NOT to try losing more of your territory, for this time nobody will stop Israel from making the 60km march to Damascus.

Syria is less & less an independant player. I don't think we can count on totally rational calculations from the Assad dictatorship. Our deterrent may not work if Assad thinks small incidents will not provoke open war. While I think a preemptive strike on Syria is worthwhile, our gov't, should they wish to avoid such incidents, should make it clear that ANY incident will meet a massive, completely disproportionate response & the demise of the Assad regime. And that threat must be credible, not just empty words. My own opinion is that the current arms build-up is in itself an act of war that justifies a preemptive strike; we are still technically at war with Syria anyway. One thing is sure, the more we stress we want peace, the more aggressive Assad will be. It should be crystal clear that the Golan will remain under Israeli sovereignty & is not negotiable.

Ever read Isaiah 17? "Damascus will be a ruinous HEAP......" Now, I wonder who will perform this?

First of all, Syria along with several Arab countries decalred war on Israel, you lost! They don't have to return anything to you. If Syria never wanted to lose anything they should have never gambled, period! They gambled and lost. You and your country needs to admit your defeat and move on. Your pathetic wining is not getting you and your country anywhere.

You said "Golan heigts MAY be returned partially IF Syria proves that it changed and put the megalomaniac territorial claims in ME to rest. " Megalomaniac territorial claims? Have you completely lost your rag? Megalomaniac Israel took over 92% of land which it had not bought or acquired in 1948 and then grabbed Sinai, the West Bank, Gaza, annexed Jerusalem and annexed the Golan. Syria has megolomanic territorial claims? Utter total and hysterical nonsense on your part and you know it. The border with Syria has been the most peaceful part of Israel ever since 1967 and you know perfectly well that Syria would be the easiest country to sign peace with. Simple equation - give back the stolen province of the Golan, you get a peace treaty - not that you would wish to think of peace with Syria since it would break all your pathetic preconceptions. AS for slogans on the walls in Damascus - there are none. Having just walked around and around and around, there are of course posters in favour of the leader, but not a single slogan about war or about peace or about the Golan - so that, matey, is a figment of your stunted imagination. As for implying that the Syrian "act like a mad racist bent of regional domination" - you really need to look in the mirror a little more closely.

Yes, right, Syria will "win" another great "victory" and lose more territory! But don't despair, you'll soon will have to add "Damascus" you your "claim list".

You said: "Megalomaniac Israel took over 92% of land which it had not bought or acquired in 1948 and then grabbed Sinai, the West Bank, Gaza, annexed Jerusalem and annexed the Golan" Your liberal education system is seriously lacking. In each of these instances, Israel was attacked by invading Arab armies (except in 1967, when Israel struck first). You make is seem like Israel just grabs land at will for no real reason. You must concede that each time Israel has gained territory, it was a result of winning a war started by the Arabs. If you can't see this, then I'm afraid that you've been spoon-fed 100% propaganda instead of 100% truth. Too much BBC?

what you say Brit guy is rubbish! ISRAEL SINCE DAY ONE WAS ATTACKED 15 MAY 1948 BY ARAB COUNTRIES! THEY FOUGHT FOR LIFE. 3 YEARS AFTER THE SHOA ( Holocaust) you are full of shit. You still don´t get it do you? maybe u need another Al Qaeda attack in london god forbid, for you to realize who the real fanatical radical enemies are.

To regain any part of the Golan Syria has these options: (a) Try to take it by force like they did in and after 1948, with partial success, and in 1967, 1973 and 1982, with very little success. It would be idiotic to expect that Israel concede anything in response to Syria's war threats. The more serious the threat the more Israel need the Golan for our security. (b) Offer, accept and be content with a 'painful' territorial compromise. Such compromise needs to satisfy Israel who have firm possession of the Golan. Syria have no moral high ground because Israel took the Golan in self defence and use it since for our security.

dear Israelis, please don't be so arrogant and turn to Hashem in time of trouble for He's "Tzur Yisrael v'Goalo".

Still bitter about the Falkland war? How come your not fighting for it back? Loser.

English Guy - you cannot rewirite history, as much as you would like to. Buy a decent history book.

100% of your post is is a figment of YOUR stunted imagination. "Israel took over 92% of land which it had not bought or acquired in 1948" . . .so, never bothered with the actual history? here: (Wiki) - In 1947, the United Nations had recommended partitioning what remained of the Palestine Mandate (after Transjordan was created) into Jewish and Arab states, a plan which Arab leaders rejected. The British mandate over Palestine was due to expire on 15 May 1948, and the Jewish leadership, led by future Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, declared independence on 14 May. The State of Israel declared itself as an independent nation, and was quickly recognized by the Soviet Union, the United States, and scores of other countries. By the end of May, approximately 6,000 Syrian, 4,500 Iraqi, between 6,000 and 9,000 Transjordanian, 1,000 Lebanese and 5,500 Egyptian troops had invaded the territory of the former British mandate, joining the Palestinian irregulars. The Transjordanians, under the command of 38 British officers (newly retired from the British Army for that purpose) fought only in the areas alloted to the Arab state and to the corpus seperatum of Jerusalem, while the Syrians, Egyptians, Iraqis and Lebanese invaded the territory alloted to the newly-created State of Israel. In addition to the regular forces participating, tens of thousands of Palestinian Arab irregulars fought under the command of Haj Amin el-Husseini , a former Colonel in the Waffen SS. By the end of the war Israel had repulsed them, held the territory designated for it and captured about half of the territory designated for the Arab state, as well as part of Jerusalem. The war and the armistice agreements between Israel and its neighbors resulted in the division of the former British mandate into Israel, the Gaza strip held by Egypt and the West Bank held by Jordan. & "The border with Syria has been the most peaceful part of Israel ever since 1967 " Well, Syria has straddled Lebanon the whole time. So now that you know something, English gay, why don't you go look in the mirror (and some facts) a little more closely.

Nice one "English guy". You managed to make a show of yourself and expose your ignorance and histerical racist rants in public: All the terrirotries you claim that Israel "grabbed" were LOST by the Arabs neighbors in wars that were declared by THEM. on Israel as soon as Israel was recognized by the UN. They started wars, they lost all of them and for good measure, they also lost some of their territory. Now why should ANYBODY give a prize for aggression - only to get in return more aggression? The Golan heights were silent not because "it is easy to make peace with Syrians" but because Assad the father was much smarter than his son! However Syria has enough action going on against Israel by supporting Hezbollah with money, weapons and intelligence, while destabilizing Lebanon. Let's also mention that Syria GRABBED and RAPED Lebanon for years and it still does. Syria's territorial ambitions are documented facts so yes, Syria does have a megalomaniac desire to GRAB Lebanon, Israel and the West Bank - you did not addresss that part , "English guy". As for Israel - it gave "back" Sinai, and Jordanian land that Jordan cared to claim (the refused to get back the West Bank) against a Peace greement and direct taks. Israel PROVED that it can give land back for REAL Peace IF the neighbor PROVES its peaceful intentions. Syria NEVER made ANY true "Peace ouvertures". Whenever Israel says yes, let's meet and discuss directly, they run away and start putting unacceptable preconditions. Syria does not really want Peace - and THAT's exactly what they'll get! Simple equation for us: Let the Syrians PROVE their peaceful intentions and they MAY get back something of what they lost as a result of their agression just like te Egyptians and Jordanians did! The best way for the Syrians now is to replace Bashar and put a real and honorable MAN in command. That man should have a vision of a peaceful, stron Syria with an open border with Israel. But of course, in the crazed Muslim world, unfortunately there are not many Saadats or King Husseins... Simple equation for you, Sir: think before you write and expose yourself as the obvious ignoramus that you are. You are in no position to preach any of us about what we shoud do or should not do. Not after explaining is so many words your hysterically racist and rabidly anti-Israeli attitude. And I wonder how come that you "just walked around and around and around" Damascus, yet you claim you're from London. You either suffer from dual-personality or are a fraud: I'd go for the last. I recomend YOU look in the mirror and you will surely discover that you are NOT "English guy" from London but actually "Musilm guy" from Damascus athough today it is almost impossible to tell the two apart - ROFLMAO!

"(Wiki) - In 1947, the United Nations had recommended partitioning what remained of the Palestine Mandate (after Transjordan was created) into Jewish and Arab states, a plan which Arab leaders rejected." The Arabs leaders rejected it because it was based on a racist and unfair partition plan. The plan called for a Jewish state over MOST of the already inhabited areas although the Jewish population was merely 30%. Besides, who created the UN? The very same countries which either colonized the Arab world or who unashamedly support the Zionists 100%. As far as I'm concerned, the UN was formed to create "Israel" on our lands in the Galilee and elsewhere! No, we haven't forgotten our homes there, and we SHALL RETURN. Nice try.

and spray everybody with your pitiful drivel to convince that you are an absolute loser. Like so many others, you too seem to be in love with and so loyal to the huge tragic mistakes the Arabs keep making for the last 90 years. I'm sorry about all this and wish for more constructive neighbours.

" . . . or who unashamedly support the Zionists 100%. " Aha, so there it is - The worlds nations that were united in there judgment (The UN) actually favored Zionism and the creation of the new Jewish state. Ever ask yourself why? And by the way biLOL, as you talked about racism and occupation, can you now tell the good readers as to exactly what percentage of land mass in these lands known as 'The Middle East' is actually occupied by Jewish people?? You really are a fool.

I realize both J*ws and Syrians and all Arabs sure know how to milk the peace cow to death RIGHT ??? better than the world series super bowl stanley cup NBA finals and or Wimbledon is the middle east peace cow beating to death tournament which always ends in a biblicial tie TIE T I E RIGHT ??? THANK YOU... M. Segal

that was the message sent to ah(mad)inejad and assad on june 25 and july 12 /07.kept quiet but a message from gw bush that they"re getting on his nerves-their summer war now postponed till november while they think things over.president bush-thanks-please fire all the torpedoes you think necessary to subdue these two wackos

Syria has now allied itself with Iran. It has seen how Iran is winning in the region and soon Israel will be forced into a humiliating defeat. It has already been disgraced at the hands of Hezbollah in July 2006. The mighty Israeli army could not achieve the goals that it had set for itself. World is mocking Israeli invinsibility. No wonder US is now forcing Israel to make once unimaginable concessions and settle for peace rather than military answer. US knows Israel is too weak to beat Lebanon or Syria militarily. This is why Rice and Blair are making Israel to climb down.