22/05/2008 Israel and Syria will begin indirect negotiations in Istanbul in a few weeks, in an effort to reach a peace agreement. The talks will be held through Turkish mediators.
 
MOALLEM: ISRAEL MUST FULLY WITHDRAW FROM GOLAN
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem reiterated on Thursday Syria's demand that Israel fully withdraw from the Golan Heights.
In an interview to the London-based daily Al Hayat, Moallem said, "Syria cannot progress even one step forward in negotiations before it receives assurances that Israel will fully withdraw from the Golan Heights. This is not a precondition, it's Syria's right."
 
A top Syrian source said the talks between Jerusalem and Damascus via Turkish mediation focus on establishing a schedule for Israel's withdrawal and other related issues, and not on the notion of withdrawal itself, which was non-negotiable, the paper reported.
The Israeli media said that everyone knows that Olmert wants to end his term on a diplomatic note, not a criminal one. "The question is, what will come first ­ an indictment or a peace treaty?
 
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was asked how he was dealing with the claim that the talks were a spin to deflect interest from the investigation against him. The prime minister appeared to welcome the question.
"First of all, the report came not only from my bureau but also from Damascus and Ankara. Second, the meeting in Damascus, excuse me, in Ankara, was set a month ago, before we heard about this Talansky-Shmalansky," Olmert said.
 
NO MATTER WHAT HE DOES, OLMERT REMAINS MAIN SUSPECT
According to Haaretz, "it does not matter what Olmert does in the months he has left in office, whether he brings peace, finds oil, blows up the Iranian reactor, or takes out Nasrallah - everything will be considered a spin. That is his fate. He is the immediate, main suspect. That is how he has been conducting himself and teetering along for two years, from the Second Lebanon War to the State Comptroller, from police probes to the two Winograd reports."
 
The Israeli daily wondered whether it was only a coincidence that the "breakthrough" came about Wednesday, the day the embarrassing and incriminating details came out about Olmert and the money, two days before his second interrogation by police, and a few days before Talansky's testimony.
"In any case, if it is spin it is very successful. It will be taught in spin classes. It will be a candidate for a Nobel Prize in spin. Only a bomb that heavy could push details of the investigations against Olmert out of the headlines," Haaretz said.
 
65-70% OF ISRAELIS AGAINST CEDING GOLAN
The Jerusalem Post revealed that 65 percent of Israelis are against a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, even if this would bring true peace with Syria, according to a poll published by the Geo-Cartographic Institute published Thursday.
 
64% of respondents were also against partial withdrawal from the Heights and a similar percentage said it was inappropriate that Olmert was holding negotiations with Syria at a time when his political future was uncertain.
 
A telephone poll conducted by Israeli Channel 2 Wednesday evening showed similar results, with 70 percent against relinquishing the Golan Heights for peace with Syria, compared to 22% in favor of such a move.
Also according to the Channel 2 poll, 57% believe the timing of the newly-announced negotiations is linked to the corruption case against Olmert, compared to 22% who don't think there is any connection between the two issues.
 
58% of those surveyed said Olmert did not have the legitimacy to oversee talks on a deal with Syria, while 33% said he did.