Middle East expert David Bukai spoke with Arutz-7 on Thursday following reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had told Syrian leaders that Israel would consider withdrawing from the Golan. Israel has no need to fear losing the Golan in negotiations, he said, as Syria is interested only in talking with Israel, and not with signing an actual peace deal.
Syrian President Bashar Assad would lose by signing a deal with Israel even if Israel were to offer him the entire Golan region, Dr. Bukai said. If Assad made peace with Israel, tensions would rise between his Alawite sect and Syria's majority Arab Muslim population, financial support from Iran would dwindle, and Assad could lose the benefits of his current military dictatorship, he explained.
Assad continues to seek negotiations with Israel in order to improve his country's image – a policy begun by his father, Hafez Assad, Bukai said. Hafez realized that by publicly demonstrating an interest in Middle East peace he could gain an instant boost in ties with the West, and his son Bashar has followed in his footsteps, he stated.
Golan Residents: We Hope Netanyahu is Different
Residents of the Golan reacted with some nervousness to reports regarding Netanyahu's alleged offer to Assad. A member of the Golan Heights Residents' Council, Uri Heitner, spoke to Arutz-7 and expressed hope that Netanyahu would prove more reliable than former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when it comes to the Golan.
Olmert expressed willingness to withdraw from the Golan in order to achieve a peace deal with Syria, Heitner explained, adding, “We hope Netanyahu isn't headed in the same direction.” Withdrawing from the Golan would endanger the entire state of Israel, he said.
While Golan residents believe that giving the region in which they live to Syria would be a disaster, they do not fear negotiations for an Israel-Syria peace deal, Heitner stated. “All Israeli governments have been prepared to negotiate without preconditions, and nobody wants peace more than those of us who live here in the Golan,” he said. “The big question is what they plan to talk about.”