Word: golan
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Each side has a very different idea of the requirements of Israeli security. Israel wants a military presence at listening posts on the Golan Heights and a demilitarized zone all the way to Damascus; Syria wants Israel to make do with electronic surveillance. And concerns over a domestic backlash may make Syria reluctant to accept Israeli demands that "normalization" include open borders and free trade. But the most important sticking point remains territorial: Syria interprets the return of the Golan to mean a return to the border - along the north shore of the sea of Galilee - that existed before their...
...Department spokesman James Rubin said Monday that the two sides had not yet agreed on the agenda for the talks. Syria wants to begin with territorial issues; Israel wants the first item to be its security requirements. While the principle framework for a peace agreement involves Israel returning the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for peace, normalization of relations and ironclad security guarantees, the devilish details keep a deal tantalizingly out of reach...
Mideast real estate negotiations are never easy, but three wars over occupancy have put the Golan Heights in a league of its own. Israeli and Syrian negotiators on Monday began ten days of intense peace talks in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, with U.S. officials playing down expectations for any kind of breakthroughs and warning that further rounds might be necessary. To be sure, the principle framework for an agreement between Israel and its most intractable foe has been on the table for quite some time: Israel returns the Golan Heights to Syrian control, in exchange for peace, normalizing of relations...
Each side naturally has a very different idea of the requirements of Israeli security. Israel wants to maintain a military presence at listening posts on the Golan Heights and a demilitarized zone inside Syria stretching all the way back to Damascus; Syria wants to convince them that electronic surveillance will suffice. And concerns over a domestic backlash may make Syria reluctant to accept Israeli demands that "normalization" include open borders and free trade. But the most important sticking point remains territorial: Syria interprets the return of the Golan to mean a return to the border - along the north shore...