Israel reaffirms commitment to peace with Syria amid verbal battle

by Yuan Zhenyu, Deng Yushan

JERUSALEM, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday said that Israel seeks peace with Syria but will react against any threat, as the two Middle East foes engaged in an intensifying spar.

In a joint statement widely cited by local media, Netanyahu and Lieberman said that their country longs for peace and is willing to have unconditional talks with its northern neighbor.

"Israel is seeking peace and wants to engage in political negotiations with Syria, without preconditions," said the statement, which was issued after a meeting between the two Israeli officials.

"Nevertheless, Israel will continue to fiercely and firmly respond to any potential threat," the statement added.

The reaffirmation of Israel's commitment to peace came apparently as an attempt to alleviate the increasingly fiery situation which saw Israel and Syria trade barbs during the past few days over their stalled peace process.

With a threatening tone, Lieberman earlier Thursday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to provoke Israel. "If you declare war on Israel, you and your family will lose your reign," he said during a speech at Israel's renowned Bar-Ilan University.

Shortly after his top diplomat's address, Netanyahu requested all ministers to avoid making remarks about Syria, obviously in a bid to prevent inappropriate comments and their negative impact.

A spokesman for Netanyahu also reiterated that Israel wants unconditional peace talks with Syria, a point the Israeli premier has repeatedly stressed since he took office.

Lieberman's threats came after the Syrian president on Wednesday accused Israel of sowing the seeds of war. Al-Assad reportedly said that Israel is not serious about achieving peace since all facts indicate that Israel is pushing the region towards war instead of peace.

The latest round of verbal battle started when Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told senior military officers on Monday that " in the absence of an arrangement with Syria, we are liable to enter a belligerent clash with it that could reach the point of an all-out, regional war."

In response to Barak's warning, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said that "Israel should not test Syria's determination, Israel knows that war will move to the Israeli cities."

Peace talks between Israel and Syria, technically still at war, have bogged down since Israel's massive offensive against the Gaza Strip over a year ago, after the two Middle East countries held four rounds of Turkey-mediated negotiations in 2008.

Little progress was achieved during the indirect talks as gaping gaps remained over the Golan Heights, the core issue impeding the Israeli-Syrian peace process.

In his speech, Lieberman asked Syria to relinquish its demand for the strategic plateau. Yet the Syrian president said the return of the Golan Heights is the precondition for peace.

"If they (Israel) say you can have the entire Golan back, we will have a peace treaty. You start with the land, you do not start with peace," said al-Assad in an interview published Wednesday by American magazine The New Yorker on its website.

Israel captured the Golan Heights, which straddles the borders of Syria and Israel, in the 1967 War and annexed it in 1981, with no recognition from the international community. Syria insists that Israel must withdraw from the highland as part of any peace deal.