Israeli Nobel Winner Peres: Syria Can’t Be Trusted In Peace Deal

When Shimon Peres has given up on you as a potential peacemaker, you really have to ask yourself what it is you’re doing with your life. Other than being a petty dictator who inherited a police state from dad:

Vice Premier Shimon Peres played down Sunday prospects for re-launching peace negotiations with Syria, saying that the Damascus regime is not ready for direct talks… Asked if the time had come to talk peace with Syria, Peres told reporters: “The problem is the Syrians are not ready and are unwilling to negotiate directly with Israel. They want to do it through the United States. “The United States said: ‘Gentlemen, if you want to negotiate, you have to stop being a supporter of terror and you have to stop supporting… the toppling down of the prime minister of Lebanon – stop supporting the Hezbollah.’ And there is where it is stuck for the time being.”

This fits quite nicely with the news that the US is getting aggravated about the peace process trial balloons that Olmert is floating regarding Syria. Except it’s fake aggravation, because they’re almost certainly fake trial balloons. We still don’t believe that anyone really thinks that Syria has the ability to enforce its will on Hezbollah – and it’s Hezbollah that everybody is worried about. We’re not even certain if people think that it’s worth their time to deal with Assad, since if he ever made a peace deal with Israel he would very likely become a target for assassination – to be undoubtedly followed by a far more Islamist regime.

References:
* Peres downplays chances of new Syria talks, says Damascus not ready [Ha'aretz]
* Assad ignored Israeli message; PM’s aides divided over whether Syria wants talks [Ha'aretz]
* This Summer’s War With Syria – Peace Deal Rumors Are Suspiciously Incoherent [MR]

Previously:
* Syria Ready To Stop Openly Seeking Annihilation Of Israel For A Couple Of Months
* Olmert Offers Golan To Assad In Exchange For Worthless Piece Of Paper. Whatever.
* Israel In Secret Peace Talks With Syria. Yawn.

Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit

Related Mere Rhetoric Posts: