Report: Olmert offering up Golan to Syria

So I noticed this AP headline a few hours ago:

Report: Olmert will cede Golan for peace

Because that worked so well in Gaza?

The circumstances are a tad different: Israeli PM Ehud Olmert thinks that if he gives the Golan Heights to Syria, Bashar Assad will tell Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to take a flying leap, according to newspaper Yediot Ahronot. Interestingly, because not even a year ago Syria was backing Hezbollah in its war with Israel. In fact, Syria harbors Hamas leader Khaled Meshal -- who, according to Shimon Peres, ordered the abduction of soldier Gilad Shalit in a raid from Gaza that touched off the conflict on the Lebanese border, as well.

But the results would be the same: Disaster.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has acknowledged that when Israel moved out of Gaza, al-Qaida moved in. In fact, a group claiming to be linked to al-Qaida has made BBC correspondent Alan Johnston the longest-held captive in Gaza. Viewing the pullout as an Israeli defeat, militants saw Gaza as a launching pad for rocket attacks on Israel. Fatah (pictured) and Hamas fight openly in the street, catching other Palestinians in the crossfire, with token daylong cease-fires peppering the violence. The factional fighting is so out of control that many Gaza residents find themselves preferring the days of the Israeli presence, according to a recent Reuters story.

What would happen if Syria accepted Olmert's purported offer? I can guarantee this: Syria won't give up its BFF Iran. Bashar Assad's friends are fewer and farther in between, and there's nothing like the friendship of an increasingly powerful Iran to ensure his dictatorial seat. Just a few months ago, Assad and Ahmadinejad got cozy and renewed their alliance -- especially against their common enemy, Israel.

Don't do it, Olmert...

Comments

[Scott Sheffield]

Jeez, what is Olmert thinking? This is almost as bad as Imus thinking anything good would come from kissing Sharpton's ass.

[Senthil]

Perhaps Olmert's thinking that after 40 years of being surrounded by countries with hostile intentions to Israel, that perhaps occupation and war is not the solution. Desperate times, desperate measures, even if they won't be effective.
Israel was born out of a need to provide Jews with a land where they could live free from persecution and rightly so.
But the tragic side-effect was the displacement of Palestinians, the impediment to creating a state for them, and the terror that has come as a result of the hardship faced by them. And that has created a blanket reason that f**kers like Ahmedinejad and co. use and abuse to threaten the survival of Israel to serve their own twisted political ends.
Israel is a place where Jews will never have to fear persecution, but how and when will they find freedom from war?