Word: golan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...July approaches, more and more external pressure will be placed on Syria to make a move toward reconciliation. Israel is willing to discuss the withdrawal from the Golan Heights, taken from Syria in 1967, and is now leaving the area of Lebanon bordering Syria; it is Syria's turn to make concessions for peace. Yesterday's announcement of a shake-up within the Syrian government--President Hafez Assad fired his entire Cabinet--will hopefully be a step toward a more conciliatory Syrian attitude. In economic terms and within the diplomatic community, it seems Syria may not have a choice...
...fact that the Hezbollah guerrillas who have made occupation of south Lebanon untenable for Israel, far from content to be seen as pawns of Damascus, have their own agenda at odds with Syria's. "While Syria wants to negotiate Israeli withdrawal as part of a package that includes the Golan Heights, Hezbollah would prefer a unilateral withdrawal that would allow them to proclaim themselves the first army ever to have liberated Arab territory from Israeli control," says MacLeod. "But despite a potential conflict with Syria, Hezbollah's enjoying a surge of support throughout the Arab world - Egypt's President Hosni...
...trust in his peacemaking ability that may cost him dearly. The Israeli leader suffered a dramatic 60-53 defeat in the Knesset Wednesday, after three of his coalition partners backed an opposition bill that would jeopardize chances of peace with Syria - the legislation requires that Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights be approved by a majority of eligiblevoters rather than simply those who bother to vote, making the necessary target more like 65 percent of the actual turnout. But the bill, which is still in its early stages, is not the real problem, says TIME Jerusalem bureau chief Lisa Beyer...
...Scott McLeod, "the Syrians lose one of their most powerful bargaining chips - their ability to keep the peace in Lebanon." But although both Israel and Syria express a desire to return to the negotiating table, they still can't agree on whether to first discuss Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights or the security guarantees Syria will offer in return. And so the deadly bidding continues in a game of peace poker that is anything but peaceful...
...Syria has the ability to shut down Hezbollah, but with no sign of movement in talks with Israel over the Golan Heights, it may have had little incentive to do that," says TIME Middle East bureau chief Scott MacLeod. "Hezbollah is raising the temperature because wants to boost its political standing in Lebanon by claiming victory from any Israeli withdrawal, proclaiming itself the first Arab party to have ever driven Israel from Arab territory." There's an element of truth to Hezbollah's claim, in the sense that the steady stream of casualties it has inflicted on Israel over...