On Not talking to Syria
April 14, 2007A political storm erupted when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
visited Syria and talked to president Basher Assad. here is a another glimpse of
'private' attempts at reengaging Americans , Syrians and Israelis towards a
possible peaceful resolution. We provide links below on a potential peace
deal between Syria and Israel. From September 2004 to September 2006, Syrians
and Israelis worked to formulate understandings for a peace agreement between
Israel and Syria in a series of secret meetings in Switzerland. Dr. Alon Liel, a
former director general of Israel's foreign ministry, and Syrian-American
businessman Ibrahim Soliman were the principal personalities participating in
discussions and that were funded initially by Robert O. "Bobby" Muller,
president of Veterans for America, and later by the government of Switzerland.
Participants were not official representatives empowered to negotiate an
agreement, but rather serious and well-connected individuals determined to
devise solutions to problems that had obstructed formal peace negotiations in
the past. Because of the great interest excited in Israel by the efforts of
Foundation for Middle East Peace, Liel and Soliman appeared in closed session
before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on April 12.
Attached is the document the parties drafted, described as a "non-paper,"
prepared in August 2005. Also included is a transcript of my February 12, 2007
presentation recounting the workings of the "Swiss Track." I hope that you find
them to be of interest.
Non-paper drafted by participants, August 2005
Briefing on Track II Peace Dialogue Between Israel and Syria, 2004-2007
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