How do Israelis view Washington's negotiations?
Syria, Politics, 12/18/1999

The Israeli ambassador in Washington, Zalman Shoufal, said on Friday that Israel's objective in this phase is to meet with Syria. "This objective was fulfilled," he said.

In an interview with Israeli Radio on Friday, Shoufal said it was agreed during the Washington talks to continue negotiations and the framework of these negotiations, "things we have expected."

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said the Syrian delegation debated the situation in Lebanon and he said, "We have to work to have a progress and to reach an agreement with Lebanon."

He continued, "We will seek to reach a good agreement with Syria to be debated to the public to accept or refuse it."

He expressed his hope of reaching an agreement within a few months between Syria and Israel.

Levy said that Syria will control the operations against Israel. But a Syrian official in Washington's negotiations stressed that it is premature to talk about such matters.

The radio Monte Carlo correspondent in Washington said that Levy also announced that Israeli handed over Syria a message containing steps to build confidence connecting to restoring the remains of Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy who was executed in Syria in 1965, and the fate of the missing Israeli soldiers.

Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin expected a peace agreement to be signed with Syria in the middle of next September and comprehensive peace to be established in the Middle East before the end of the year 2000.

In statements he made in Florida that were published on Friday, Belin added that experts will crystallize the agreement by next February, adding that the final agreement will be reached in September, and this agreement will be signed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.

Meanwhile, the Israeli papers said on Friday that Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa vowed during the first round of talks that Syria will not permit any side to obstruct the peace process, without openly noting the Hizbullah party.

For his part, Lebanese parliament member from Hizbullah, Hussein al-Haj Hussein, said the operations of the Lebanese resistance in south Lebanon are "independent and have no links to any negotiations."

In an interview with the Monte Carlo radio, Hussein expressed his conviction that neither Syria nor Lebanon will ask for the halt of resistance operations because the "Lebanese resistance will continue until the liberation of the occupied territories from occupation."

Previous Stories:
  Israeli official expresses confidence that agreement with Syria will be good   (12/17/1999)
  Syrian-Israeli negotiations to start January 3   (12/17/1999)
  New tone in Syrian-Israeli negotiations   (12/17/1999)

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