Golan Heights
Golan HeightsIsrael News Photo: (file photo)

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is willing to sweeten the deal with Syria in exchange for direct talks with Damascus.

According to a diplomatic source in Jerusalem quoted late Saturday night by the Hebrew-language Ha'aretz, Olmert is considering negotiations over the borders of the Golan Heights in exchange for face-to-face talks with Syrian officials.

The news comes along with information that Olmert is planning to set a date for a fifth round of indirect talks with Damascus, to be brokered by Turkey, as were the prior four sets of negotiations.

The source said that Syria had demanded in prior negotiations that Israel make good on a promise called the "Rabin Deposit," a deal that Olmert had reportedly put off until the fifth round of indirect talks.

The pledge was apparently made in 1995 by former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin to then-U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, and involved a commitment by Israel to completely withdraw from the Golan Heights. In return, Damascus would promise not to attack the Jewish State.

Olmert has now decided to go ahead with the fifth round of talks.

Kadima party chairwoman and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who still hopes to become the next prime minister, is less than enthusiastic about the prospect, but cautiously gave a green light to the talks, if they are confined to "maintenance," she said Friday.

"However," she added, "if we are talking about an attempt to determine facts on the ground before the election, that is inappropriate and unacceptable."

Labor party chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who has no chance of becoming prime minister in the next round of elections was not as cautious.

"Syria could be a peace partner, and there is a chance that this would also lead to an agreement with the Lebanese," he said. "And we, as responsible leaders, must not miss this opportunity."