Maariv: Contacts through mediators between Israel and Syria

The Israeli daily Maariv reported on Thursday that Israel and Syria made during the two last weeks contacts through mediators in preparation for an expected US effort to resume negotiations on the Syrian track.

The paper added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a message several days earlier through Christopher Ross, a senior official at the US State Department who had served as US ambassador in Damascus.

The message was in two parts: The first part said that Israel is concerned with resuming negotiations with Syria immediately following the implementation of the Wye River accord, and the second part said that Israel has no role in the conflict between Syria and Turkey.

The Israeli paper added there are other mediators who are moving between the two sides in recent times, including US billionaire Danny Abrahams, and the director of the Peace Institute, Steven Cohen.

The two men recent visited Syria and then traveled to Israel. Recently Uzi Arad, the political advisor for the Israeli premier, sent a message to Damascus in which he said that the Syrian-Israeli track can be only resumed through US mediators, rather than independent mediators.