Why can't they just make peace?

F ONLY Israel could make peace with Syria, the optimists muse: it could be the key to peace in the whole Middle East. No longer sensing enemies on every side, Syria could relax, stop backing insurgents and radicals in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, and join the West in isolating Iran. So the news that broke this week in an Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, of a secret back channel that ran for two years and even produced an outline of a possible peace deal, caused quite a stir. Could peace talks still be round the corner?
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Who gave a nod?

One question is: did the talks have quiet official approval? The Israeli and—despite reports that senior Syrian officials were indirectly involved—the Syrian leaderships have issued strong denials. Mr Liel has stressed that he was not representing the Israeli government, but says he kept it constantly informed, though it is unclear precisely who was in the know. Mr Olmert, who has firmly ruled out peace talks on the ground that America is against them, may have a more immediate reason for denying knowledge of the talks: he would risk being eaten alive by hardliners in his increasingly fragile coalition if he were seen to entertain the idea.

However, neither Mr Liel nor Mr Suleiman is known as a heavyweight in the back-channel world. Another question is why the story was leaked now. Mr Liel says he thinks it time to “pressure” the Israeli government into considering talks with Syria. The only result so far has been to show, more clearly than ever, that while the general shape of a peace deal is quite easy to draw, the hard part is the political will to try it out.

# posted by mohamad @ 1:14 AM