U.S. Officials Defend Israeli-Syrian Talks

Talks between Syria and Israel, the final and toughest part of the Middle East peace process, appear to be getting off to an uneven start. But the problem may lie more in perception than reality, U.S. mediators claim.

On Friday, Secretary of State Warren Christopher heralded his talks with Syrian President Hafez Assad as crossing an important threshold. Yet he hadn’t even briefed Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Saturday before Israeli commentators and officials began calling his 16th peace shuttle “disappointing.”

And by Sunday, as Christopher boarded his plane to fly home, the Israeli media were reporting that the failure of his peace mission to produce a major breakthrough either should or would force early Israeli elections.

“If we see that the negotiations with the Syrians do not soon lead us anywhere, then early elections are a must. . . . Without peace with Syria, this [Labor] government has, in effect, reached the end of its usefulness and should go to the people,” Labor Party General Secretary Nissim Zvilli said.

But the gloom in Israel flies in the face of important evidence, U.S. officials contend. “Israel and Syria are now engaged in a more meaningful dialogue than they have been at any time in these negotiations,” Christopher said Saturday night after meeting with Peres.

“I am just the opposite of disappointed.”

U.S. mediators still believe that a deal before Oct. 29, the date by which Israel must hold elections, is more than a mere possibility. The elections could then double as the referendum on terms of peace promised by the Labor government.

Members of the Israeli team also concede that Christopher’s trip produced a tangible three-point agreement on just how comprehensive this final leg of the peace process will be:

* It will include most, if not all, of the rest of the 22-nation Arab League.

A formal ending of the overall Arab-Israeli conflict is important to Israel and may lessen the need for some of the disputed security measures on the Golan Heights, the strategic territory captured from Syria by Israel during the 1967 Middle East War that is the centerpiece of a peace deal.

* It will feature a U.S.-led campaign to create political and economic alliances between Israel and the Arab world, which could be important in widening the roles, influence and trade of both sides.

* And it will be independent of other peace tracks, freeing both nations most notably from any future glitches on the Palestinian track over sensitive issues, such as sovereignty and Jerusalem, that are still to be resolved.

The package creates a foundation upon which the two parties, who have been at war for half a century, can build in pursuing the specifics of Israel’s swapping the Golan Heights for peace, U.S. officials say.

Officials say the gap in perceptions has been caused mainly by expectations that have become so high since the moribund effort was revived last month that key players are disappointed with anything short of major agreements. It is also a function of differences in style.

“One month ago, we thought if Peres came in with a big burst, then Assad would respond with a big burst,” an Israeli mediator said. “So what you’re seeing now is a reaction to the early, overly optimistic assessments.

“Now we have to learn to accept incremental progress.”

Assad, who is arguably the most cautious of the Arab world’s diverse leaders, was never expected to jump on anyone’s bandwagon. But he fully understands the dynamics of time in the current effort, U.S. mediators contend.

The Israeli government is under pressure in part because the calendar of impending events is not on its side--one of the reasons for talk of early elections as soon as June 4.

The anti-peace movement is gearing up again after a period of inactivity following the Nov. 4 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish extremist opposed to peace.

Since Rabin’s assassination, the popularity of Peres and a prospective peace with Syria have won majority support among Israelis. But the drama of the impending trial of Yigal Amir, Rabin’s confessed assassin, is likely to be fairly short-lived, and emotions stirred by the national trauma may soon dissipate.

“Syria rarely moves swiftly on anything, and the Israelis know that. Having said that, however, Damascus has made serious strides over the past month,” a U.S. official said.

“I think the Israeli reaction reflects its own situation as much as what came out of this mission.”