Israeli officials speak of withdrawing from Syria's Golan

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai has expressed his wish to resume negotiations with Syria.

In a statement to the German magazine "Fox" published today, Mordechai said he is ready to go to Damascus to talk with President Hafez al-Assad to reach a peace accord between Syria and Israel. He continued that he is ready to sit at the negotiating table with Syria without preconditions.

Concerning withdrawal from the Golan, Mordechai said the extent of security Israel can get is connected to the size of withdrawal from the Golan. He expressed his belief that signing a peace treaty with Syria would pave the way for the withdrawal of the Israeli army from south Lebanon.

Mordechai ruled out a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon. He said such a withdrawal would enable the Hizbullah party to get closer to the borders with Israel within a short time, Israeli radio reported.

Also, a political advisor of Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Uzi Arad announced Monday that he proposed that Israel withdraws unconditionally from the Syrian Golan heights occupied since 1967.

Arad suggested in an international symposium in Texas which brought together European, US, Israeli and Arab academicians, that the size of the withdrawal will depend on the security arrangements to be made with Syria.

This is a logical formula that expresses the security concerns of the present government while his (Netanyahu's) predecessors were focusing on hopes of normalization and peace, he told the Israeli radio.