Israel and Syria Begin Landmark Talks for Peace

WASHINGTON — Challenged by President Clinton to rise above a history of conflict, Israel and Syria on Wednesday opened their highest-level peace talks ever with expressions of hope tarnished by echoes of the antagonisms that have kept them formally at war for more than half a century.

“For the first time in history, there is a chance of a comprehensive peace between Israel and Syria and, indeed, all its neighbors,” Clinton said as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shareh stood at his side.

But moments later, Shareh made it clear how bumpy the road to agreement will be. Although he said the talks mark “the dawn of real hope” for peace, he also cataloged decades of Syrian grievances, complaining that the world has ignored “Arabs and their sufferings” long enough.

Barak maintained a determined but mirthless smile during Shareh’s speech. But other members of the Israeli delegation said they were astonished and angered at the tone of the Syrian’s remarks. U.S. officials clearly were also displeased that Shareh introduced controversy into the ceremonial opening session, but White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said Shareh only reiterated “long-held and previously stated views.”

During Shareh’s comments, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy and Barak’s senior security advisor, Danny Yatom, shifted uncomfortably and grimaced. Levy shook his head and was later quoted as saying that Shareh had violated an agreement to keep remarks brief and simple.

Israeli officials said later, however, that the mood in the private talks was “a little better” than the public exchange. These officials said that the two sides remain far apart but that the first day of negotiations seemed constructive.

The meeting marks the first time Israel and Syria have negotiated at such a high political level. Shareh’s presence across a bargaining table from Barak amounts to de facto recognition by Syria of Israel, something governments in Damascus have resisted since Israel won its independence in 1948.

Shareh said Syria will settle for nothing less than the return of the entire strategic Golan Heights, which Israel seized during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Barak has indicated that Israel is prepared to relinquish the plateau in exchange for agreement on other key issues.

Following opening remarks in the White House Rose Garden, Clinton, Barak and Shareh met for about half an hour in the White House.

Then Clinton held separate hourlong meetings with each of them.

Later the Israeli and Syrian delegations went across Pennsylvania Avenue to Blair House--festooned with decorations marking the Christmas holiday that neither the Jewish Barak nor the Muslim Shareh celebrates--to continue the talks.

With Secretary of State Madeleine Albright acting as moderator, Barak and Shareh met for an hour and 20 minutes.

They are scheduled to meet again today, then recess for a while. Although the two sides originally said they would resume the talks at a location in the Middle East, they are now expected to return to Washington for additional meetings.

One thing Barak and Shareh seemed to agree on was that the status quo of Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights cannot continue indefinitely.

Barak told reporters accompanying him to Washington that he will try to impress Shareh with the need to seize the “golden” opportunity to reach agreement, saying that failure to do so would not preserve the status quo but would in fact lead to a potentially violent deterioration of the two countries’ relations.

Shareh said that, if Israel refuses to return the Golan to Syria, the current armed standoff in the region would give way to a conflict “in which bloodshed can never stop.”

In his welcoming speech, Clinton said, “When the history of this century is written, some of its most illustrious chapters will be the stories of men and women who put old rivalries and conflicts behind them and looked ahead to peace and reconciliation for their children.”

Barak, speaking next, responded in the same vein: “We are determined to do whatever we can to put an end [to conflict] and bring about the dreams of children and mothers all around the region to see a better future for the Middle East.” He spoke just 119 words.

But Shareh broke the mood. He was, by turns, conciliatory and truculent.

Summarizing Syria’s negotiating position, he said, “It goes without saying that peace for Syria means the return of all its occupied land.” For Israel, he added, “peace will mean the end of the psychological fear which the Israelis have been living in as a result of the existence of occupation, which is undoubtedly the source of all adversities and wars.”

In other words: Syria gets the Golan Heights and, in exchange, Israel gets to stop occupying it.

At the same time, Shareh said: “We are at the threshold of a historic opportunity. . . . Therefore, we all have to be objective and to show a high sense of responsibility in order to achieve a just and comprehensive peace, a peace that has been so long awaited by all the peoples of our region and the world at large.”

But he complained that the West believes Syria started the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when “it was the other side who insisted on provoking the Syrians.” And he complained that Israelis are trying to “muster international sympathy with the few thousand [Jewish] settlers in the Golan” while ignoring the Syrian villagers who were expelled from the region 32 years ago.