The Qatari newspaper "Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed" reported that it had received documents from the British National Archives that revealed new details about the secret talks between Syria and Israel, mediated by the United States, between 1995-1997, as part of the efforts to strive for a peace agreement between the countries.
The newspaper claims that the documents shed light on the essential differences and commitments of the two sides, as well as the degree of seriousness on the part of the Israeli side to strive for an agreement with the Syrians. According to the documents that were revealed, the Syrian foreign minister at the time hinted and threatened that Damascus would not sign any agreement if Damascus did not guarantee the withdrawal of Israeli presence from Southern Lebanon; Israel would ultimately withdraw completely from Lebanon in 2000.
The Syrian Foreign Minister also stated that Damascus considers the understandings from 1994, the Israeli commitment to withdraw from the Golan Heights according to the borders of June 4, 1967, as an agreement between the two sides. This information is according to document number 17323 revealed by the Qatari paper. In Syria, it was noted that the British Foreign Minister at the time was the first to tell the Americans about the secret agreements, which were reached under the auspices of the US in 1994 between Israel and Syria.
From 1948-1967 Syria was in control of the Golan Heights which overlooks northern Israel. Israelis were killed by random sniper attacks from Syrians using the plateau to their advantage & Fatah used the land to carry out terror attacks. Watch to learn more https://t.co/7x28RKDC7U
ā Christians United for Israel (@CUFI) December 5, 2022
According to the agreements, Israel undertook to withdraw to the borders of '67, when the main obstacle was the Israeli progression along the Syrian route in Lebanon.
The British Foreign Minister stated that "territories for peace" should be the principle on which the peace negotiations are based, and that they were trying to assess to what extent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to negotiate with Syria on the basis that the final result should be the return of the Golan to Syria. Certain elements of the documents indicated that Netanyahu was ready to enter into negotiations based on resolutions 242 and 383 of the UN Security Council. The British Foreign Minister emphasized that he must examine Netanyahu's intentions and that he believes that the Syrians do not want the talks to be only "for their benefit."
The Newly Declassified Revelations About Netanyahu, Clinton and Syria's Assad - Israel News - https://t.co/QpPnc1FcnT https://t.co/JJ3FwSrCvu
ā Marc Lynch (@abuaardvark) November 22, 2022
According to the documents, there was a meeting between Dennis Ross, the first coordinator of the peace process during the administration of George Bush senior, and later Bill Clinton, and at the center of it was a message from President Clinton.
Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large @FredericHof has written a book documenting how close Syria and Israel came to reach a peace deal. @faysalitani does a great job at presenting the book and context in this @newlinesmag discussion with the author https://t.co/cWWvPZm9wB pic.twitter.com/PYoJoQuq62
ā Hassan I. Hassan (@hxhassan) May 5, 2022
The American envoy did not reveal the content of the conversation and described it in general terms. Ross assured Assad that Netanyahu is interested in peace talks with Syria, and acknowledged that Syria should start from its current position with the Golan in any renewal of talks. He also said that, unlike Arafat, Netanyahu is ready to meet Assad "anywhere and at any time."
