Giora Eiland, former head of the National Security Council, wrote in a Hebrew daily Tuesday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is approaching peace with Syria in a reverse order by entering negotiations before outlining the present reality, Israel's interests and the desired outcome.
Writing in Yediot Acharonot, he pointed out that the Cabinet has not even convened to set out Israel's objectives and that senior experts have not discussed or analyzed the Prime Minister's steps. He wrote that military and security officials previously have stated that Israel could not defend itself against Syria without the strategic Golan Heights.
Eiland compared the Prime Minister's approach to the government's policies in the Oslo discussions and the withdrawal of Jewish residents and IDF troops from the Gaza region three years ago. He explained that Israel already had promised to carry out the policies before discussing fundamentals of the agreements.