New York Times
August 20, 2006
Israel Committed to Block Arms and Kill Nasrallah

By STEVEN ERLANGER
JERUSALEM, Aug. 19 — Despite a cease-fire agreement, Israel intends to do its best to keep Iran and Syria from rearming Hezbollah and to kill the militia’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, says a senior Israeli commander.

International commitments to exclude the Hezbollah militia from southern Lebanon and to disarm it already seem hollow, said the commander, who had a well-placed view of the war and its planning and has extensive experience in Lebanon.

The officer would only speak on the condition of anonymity in an interview on Friday. But, speaking one day before commandos carried out a raid that Israeli officials said was to disrupt arms shipments for Hezbollah from Syria and Iran, he was explicit that Israel would continue to seek out and block any such attempts. He also emphasized that, despite criticism from the Israeli public and even troops of the performance of the Army and government, he considered the threat and the fighting ability of Hezbollah to have been severely diminished.

Furthermore, he made it clear that Sheik Nasrallah remained a target as the leader of a group that Israel and the United States have labeled terrorist. “There’s only one solution for him,” he said. At another point, he said simply, “This man must die.”

Mr. Nasrallah is regarded as a hero in much of the Muslim world. The pro-Syrian president of Lebanon, Émile Lahoud, praised him and Hezbollah this week for what he called their victory over Israel.

Israel and the United States, however, view Hezbollah as a tool of non-Arab Iran, which created it, and of Syria, which supports and helps to supply it, rather than being loyal to Lebanon and its multireligious government.

Israel, the officer said, views Hezbollah as “Iran’s western front’’ and, regardless of how poorly the new United Nations forces may perform, he argued, Israel will benefit from new international support for the extension of Lebanese sovereignty to the Israeli border, made most visible in the deployment of the Lebanese Army.

“I don’t care about the capability of the Lebanese Army,” he said. “What is more important, and here I’m not speaking for the Israeli government, is the understanding that the Lebanese government took control of southern Lebanon. Now we can deal with them as a country and a government, and speak and compromise. This is the huge change this operation created.”

Hezbollah, he said, is no longer just Israel’s problem, and “the world understands that we are helping to stop the influence of Iran,” at least in the longer term.

The army was planning on 15 days of air war before any ground forces were considered, he said. “We didn’t want to do any ground assault and thought we could create the conditions for a cease-fire without a major ground assault.”

But the army miscalculated, and Hezbollah did not break. The air force failed to kill Sheik Nasrallah or to destroy the Hezbollah leadership. The army was also surprised, he said, by the sheer numbers of the advanced antitank missiles Hezbollah possessed, including Russian Metis-M and Kornet missiles that were sold to Syria and passed on to Hezbollah, he said, and which caused most of Israel’s military casualties.

The United Nations was also “too soft and too late” in negotiating a cease-fire, and Israel then felt it had to act to stop the short-range Katyusha rockets that the army and the government knew, he insisted, could not be stopped with air power alone. “We tried to postpone it until we had no other choice,” the officer said.

The army asked the government for a five-day ground operation to reach the Litani River and was ready on Monday, Aug. 7, the commander said. “The government asked us to wait because of the negotiations, and we waited Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and most of Friday,” he said. Only then, when the negotiations at the United Nations were going against Israel, did Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz order the expanded ground operation, which had only been approved by the cabinet on Aug. 9.

In the end, the army had two days of fighting, not five, before the cease-fire took effect last Monday at 8 a.m.

Israelis have been extremely critical of Mr. Olmert, Mr. Peretz and, to some degree, the army leadership. Israelis overwhelmingly supported the decision to go to war against Hezbollah after its cross-border raid on July 12, when it captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight people.

But the war dragged on, the government seemed indecisive and Hezbollah was fighting well. Israelis felt there was too much reliance on air power, the ground war was too long delayed and then too modest, and the cease-fire agreement did not even secure the soldiers’ release or guarantee the disarming of Hezbollah.

The lifeline of the three-month-old government appears shortened, and the future of the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, is uncertain.

Still, the Israeli Army feels it fought well within the limits set for it, and the commander insisted that the Israelis won every battle with Hezbollah, despite its good training and equipment and the underground tunnels, barracks and command posts it constructed with Iranian help.

“We believe it was important to stop the war with Hezbollah understanding that we can beat them anywhere, any time, and we did that,” he said. “I believe it will change the situation for a long time.”

Israelis are spoiled by the 1967 and 1973 wars, he said, but there is no decisive victory against terrorism. In Washington, too, he said, “I believe the military and security professionals understand what we did, and they are not disappointed.”

The Israeli Army scored two important achievements, he confirmed. First, good intelligence allowed it to knock out up to 80 percent of Hezbollah’s medium- and long-range missile launchers in the first two days of the air war, preventing Sheik Nasrallah from firing a longer-range Iranian Zelzal missile on Tel Aviv.

More important, Israel was able to destroy launchers within 45 seconds to a minute after they were used, which no other army in the world can do with regularity, he said. Employing drones, radar, precision weapons and artillery, Israel could track a launching and bomb it.

But it could not do that with the thousands of short-range Katyusha rockets. They are small and easily portable, can be fired from buildings or simple metal tripods or even fired with a simple timer.

There are other tactical lessons, the commander said: more armor plating underneath tanks, better supplies, more money to be spent on reserves and training.

“But in the long run, if we see Hezbollah rearming itself and running southern Lebanon, I believe the next round is coming.”

After all, “this is the Middle East,” the officer said. “One war ends, and the next one is already at the door.”

New York Times
August 20, 2006
Iranian Shells Land in Kurdish Villages in Northern Iraq, Killing 2

By EDWARD WONG and YEREVAN ADHAM
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq, Aug. 19 — Artillery shells fired from Iran have landed in remote northern villages of Iraqi Kurdistan in the past four days and have killed at least two civilians and wounded four others, a senior Kurdish official said Saturday. Dozens of families have fled the region.

The shells have been aimed at an area around Qandil Mountain, known as a base for militant Kurdish opposition groups seeking independence from Turkey and Iran, said the official, Mustafa Sayed Qadir, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which governs the eastern half of Iraqi Kurdistan.

“A lot of homes have been damaged and livestock killed,” he said. A shepherd was wounded Saturday, and two women were among the three people wounded on previous days, he added.

The government of Iraq is aware of the shelling, which has taken place occasionally in recent months, but has not taken an official position, he said.

The president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, is the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. He has at times had a close relationship with Iran, especially when he sought Iranian support in the 1990’s against rival Kurdish leaders and Saddam Hussein. But Mr. Talabani is also aware of the Iranian government’s poor treatment of its Kurdish minority. Iranian officials could not be reached for comment Saturday evening.

Iran and Turkey have sizeable Kurdish populations that live in mountainous areas bordering Iraqi Kurdistan. In recent weeks, the two countries have stepped up warnings to Kurdish militant groups, perhaps fearing that they might have enough of a haven in Iraqi Kurdistan to inject new vigor into independence movements in Iran and Turkey. Iraqi Kurdistan is autonomous from the rest of Iraq and is home to most of this country’s five million Kurds.

It is unclear what weaponry or troops Iran has amassed along its border with Iraqi Kurdistan.

American officials have accused Iran of supporting Hezbollah in its recent battle against Israel. This month, the American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Iran had been pushing small Shiite militias to step up attacks against the American-led forces in retaliation for Israel’s assault on Lebanon.

An American military spokesman said some Shiite militias had been training in Iran and had received weapons from individuals or groups in that country. However, the spokesman, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, said the military had not found any evidence that the Iranian government was involved.

In Baghdad on Saturday, thousands of Shiite pilgrims converged on a shrine in the northern part of the capital for an annual procession, walking a route secured by police officers as a citywide ban on driving emptied the streets in an effort to prevent sectarian attacks and panic.

At least three Shiites were found dead in Baghdad, shot in the head, according to hospital officials. But the Interior Ministry could not confirm whether they were pilgrims.

Elsewhere in Iraq, battles continued to rage. An American soldier died from wounds suffered during fighting in Anbar Province, the American military said in a statement. An Iraqi police patrol was ambushed by sniper fire in Mosul, killing a policeman and wounding another, the police said.

In a series of gun battles in and around Baquba, at least six people were killed. A civilian died from stray gunfire after an attack on an Iraqi police checkpoint in a western suburb; nearby, gunmen killed two professors from Diyala University.

Damien Cave contributed reporting from Baghdad for this article.

Posted by Rich:

Like it or not (and I find it distasteful on some level), the best way to diffuse the rising power of the Shias (which Bush aided by toppling Saddam leading up to the Shia domination of Iraq) is to find a way to have a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

the Shia extreemists will assassinate any Palstinian political figure who signs away an inch of land in a peace treaty with Israel. The Palastinian regime is not looking for peace...

Iranian Shells Land in Kurdish Villages in Northern Iraq, Killing 2

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq, Aug. 19 — Artillery shells fired from Iran have landed in remote northern villages of Iraqi Kurdistan in the past four days and have killed at least two civilians and wounded four others, a senior Kurdish official said Saturday. Dozens of families have fled the region.

The shells have been aimed at an area around Qandil Mountain, known as a base for militant Kurdish opposition groups seeking independence from Turkey and Iran, said the official, Mustafa Sayed Qadir, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which governs the eastern half of Iraqi Kurdistan.

“A lot of homes have been damaged and livestock killed,” he said. A shepherd was wounded Saturday, and two women were among the three people wounded on previous days, he added.

The government of Iraq is aware of the shelling, which has taken place occasionally in recent months, but has not taken an official position, he said.

The president of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, is the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. He has at times had a close relationship with Iran, especially when he sought Iranian support in the 1990’s against rival Kurdish leaders and Saddam Hussein. But Mr. Talabani is also aware of the Iranian government’s poor treatment of its Kurdish minority. Iranian officials could not be reached for comment Saturday evening.

Iran and Turkey have sizeable Kurdish populations that live in mountainous areas bordering Iraqi Kurdistan. In recent weeks, the two countries have stepped up warnings to Kurdish militant groups, perhaps fearing that they might have enough of a haven in Iraqi Kurdistan to inject new vigor into independence movements in Iran and Turkey. Iraqi Kurdistan is autonomous from the rest of Iraq and is home to most of this country’s five million Kurds.

It is unclear what weaponry or troops Iran has amassed along its border with Iraqi Kurdistan.

American officials have accused Iran of supporting Hezbollah in its recent battle against Israel. This month, the American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Iran had been pushing small Shiite militias to step up attacks against the American-led forces in retaliation for Israel’s assault on Lebanon.

An American military spokesman said some Shiite militias had been training in Iran and had received weapons from individuals or groups in that country. However, the spokesman, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, said the military had not found any evidence that the Iranian government was involved.

In Baghdad on Saturday, thousands of Shiite pilgrims converged on a shrine in the northern part of the capital for an annual procession, walking a route secured by police officers as a citywide ban on driving emptied the streets in an effort to prevent sectarian attacks and panic.

At least three Shiites were found dead in Baghdad, shot in the head, according to hospital officials. But the Interior Ministry could not confirm whether they were pilgrims.

Elsewhere in Iraq, battles continued to rage. An American soldier died from wounds suffered during fighting in Anbar Province, the American military said in a statement. An Iraqi police patrol was ambushed by sniper fire in Mosul, killing a policeman and wounding another, the police said.

In a series of gun battles in and around Baquba, at least six people were killed. A civilian died from stray gunfire after an attack on an Iraqi police checkpoint in a western suburb; nearby, gunmen killed two professors from Diyala University.

Damien Cave contributed reporting from Baghdad for this article.

Last update - 21:47 19/08/2006

Israel says France not keeping promise on troop commitment

By Haaretz Service and Agencies

Officials in Jerusalem expressed disappointment at what they view as French backtracking on an earlier commitment to send thousands of soldiers to take part in the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Israel Radio reported on Saturday.

Foreign Ministry sources said Jerusalem expects France to "come to its senses and abide by its word," adding that the UN force should be a robust one which would be authorized to act in order to enforce the terms of the cease-fire.

President George W. Bush said on Friday he hopes France will send more troops to a UN peacekeeping force for Lebanon after it said it would deploy only 200 soldiers.



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"France has said they'd send some troops. We hope they send more. There's been different signals coming out of France. Yesterday they had a statement, today they had a statement," Bush told reporters at the presidential retreat of Camp David.

France already has some 200 troops attached to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon and the new detachment will come from an engineering regiment that will focus on transport and building projects.

Bush has said the United States will help the force with logistical support but not troops because they could become a lightning rod.

In his remarks to reporters on Friday, he noted that the United States has worked closely with France in the United Nations on bringing about a cease-fire in Lebanon.

"We're working with France, France is a friend, France is an ally, France has got a great stake in the future of Lebanon. President Chirac has made it very clear that he believes that democracy in Lebanon is very important," Bush said.

French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie on Friday defended France's decision to send just 200 additional troops to reinforce the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, and stressed that the force needs a clear mandate to operate effectively.

France, which currently leads the UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon, said Thursday it was doubling its contingent to 400 troops. Many of the new troops are to set off for the Middle East on Sunday.

The size of France's contribution was a disappointment to some at the United Nations who had expected more French soldiers, though it did not dissuade countries from pledging a total of 3,500 troops for the expanded force during a meeting Thursday in New York.

"I can't let it be said or implied that France is not doing its duty in the Lebanese crisis," Alliot-Marie told French radio RTL in an interview.

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry reiterated Friday that France could always send additional troops at a later stage.

"Depending on the ongoing discussions, we will decide on the way in which we participate in the reinforced UNIFIL in the long term," spokesman Denis Simonneau told reporters.

The defense minister noted that France was willing to continue leading the force as it expands from the current 2,000 troops to as many as 15,000.

I like the idea about Turkey being allowed into EU. That would def be good for all sides.

I don't know if EU is iterested though, they don't really care for Israel, Turkey, or Kurds. There would need to be some kind of insentive to benefit EU in the deal.

Hezbollah Reportedly Had British Goggles
The Associated Press
Aug 20 8:18 PM US/Eastern
LONDON


Britain said Monday that it is investigating a report that Israeli soldiers found British-made night-vision goggles in a Hezbollah hideout.
"The Israeli Defense Forces have told us that they have found some night-vision equipment in southern Lebanon that they believe to have been manufactured in Britain," a British Foreign Office spokesman said Monday on condition of anonymity because agency rules do not allow him to speak for attribution.

"We are seeking further details of the equipment to investigate whether it is British and, if so, by whom it was made and to whom it was sold," the spokesman said.

The Times newspaper reported Monday that Israeli officials believe the goggles may be from a consignment sold to Iran by Britain in 2003.

The sale was intended to bolster Iranian efforts to combat heroin smuggling across the Afghan border as part of the United Nations Drugs Control Program, the newspaper claimed.

The Foreign Office spokesman said it was not yet clear if the items were part of the batch sent to Iran in 2003.

Israeli officials said Friday that they had sent a senior delegation to Moscow to complain that Russian-made anti-tank missiles were used by Hezbollah guerrillas in their 34-day conflict with Israeli forces in Lebanon.

Israeli officials say that Iran and Syria passed the arms to Hezbollah after buying them from Russia.

Russia denied the claim.

Arab foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Egypt, and Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Ahmed Ben Heli said they would discuss setting up a fund to rebuild Lebanon, which lost an estimated 15,000 apartments, 140 bridges and other structures.

Diplomats said Arab governments wanted to counter the flood of Iranian money that is believed to be financing the Hezbollah handouts.

Iran, which is not an Arab nation, denied that Sunday. "Hezbollah is a legitimate body in Lebanon; they have their own economic resources and popular support there," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in Tehran.

Iran tests short-range missile
Tehran rejects preconditions for nuclear talks


Sunday, August 20, 2006; Posted: 9:00 p.m. EDT (01:00 GMT)

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Days before a U.N. deadline to accept limits on its nuclear program or face possible sanctions, Iran's armed forces tested surface-to-surface missiles Sunday in the second stage of war games near its border with Iraq.

The war games occurred as Iran again rejected any preconditions for further talks on giving up its uranium-enrichment program, which it says is meant for peaceful purposes.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran believes setting preconditions for negotiations will tighten the atmosphere for the two sides to reach a solution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

"Why do they believe that the two parties should not negotiate in an open atmosphere?"

The U.N. Security Council has given Iran until the end of August to freeze its enrichment program or possibly face economic sanctions. Iran has said its response to incentives intended to persuade its leaders to accept strictures on its nuclear program would be ready by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Iran's military launched the first stage of a planned series of war games on Saturday. The exercises will be conducted in 16 provinces in southern, southwestern and western parts of the country during the coming days, IRNA reported.

Brig. Gen. Kiumars Heidari, a military spokesman, told the IRNA that Iranian forces test-fired Iranian-made Saeqeh (Thunderbolt) missiles and surface-to-water missiles in southwestern Khuzestan Province, which adjoins Iraq.

Iran has routinely held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and to test equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers.

The new tests, in the wake of the Lebanon-Hezbollah fighting, seemed certain to create new tensions with the West. (Full story)

Iran's state-run television said the missile was built based on domestic know-how, although outside experts say much of the country's missile technology originated from other countries.

State-run TV showed video of 10 missiles being launched from mobile launching pads, The Associated Press reported.

Iran has said it is developing its nuclear technology for a civilian power program. But the United States and some European countries have accused Iranian leaders of working towards joining the exclusive club of countries that have nuclear weapons.

"If the Europeans' attitude is rational, the package of incentives can settle problems," Asefi said. "The package has still ambiguities and questions which should be answered."

He said Iran would cooperate with the nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and he predicted that the Europeans would not allow sanctions to be imposed on the oil-exporting nation. Such a move would result in EU countries "burning their bridges," he said.

"If other countries refrain from cooperating with Iran, they will sustain more damage," he said.

But Emily Lawrimore, a spokeswoman for the same White House that once branded Iran -- along with Iraq and North Korea -- members of the "axis of evil," said Sunday that the show of military force "serves to remind us of the dangers of its [Iran's] nuclear ambitions.

"Iran sits at the nexus of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism; we know that Iran is producing and developing delivery systems that could threaten our friends and allies in the Middle East and Europe and eventually the United States itself," she said. "As the president has noted, Iran faces a clear choice."

The statement carried echoes of pronouncements from Washington in the months leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, where about 130,000 U.S. troops are still battling a persistent insurgency and trying to quell a wave of sectarian violence.

In this case, however, Lawrimore said that if Iran failed to comply with the Security Council's mandate, "We will move quickly at the United Nations to impose sanctions," she said.

But Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, speaker of Iran's Parliament, accused the United States of interfering in the affairs of other countries.

"The U.S. meddles in national affairs of other countries sometimes in the form of coup d'etat and sometimes under pretext of campaign against terrorism," he told the Parliament -- or Majlis -- on the 53rd anniversary anniversary of a U.S.- and British-sponsored coup d'etat that brought pro-Western Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to power.

"The U.S. has always raised a pretext for its interference. It meddled in Iraqi domestic affairs under a pretext to establish democracy and freedom in that country and the international campaign against terrorism," he said.

Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

Arabs to UN: Give Sudan more time on Darfur
Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:42 PM ET

CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab governments on Sunday asked the U.N. Security Council to postpone a meeting on Darfur and give the Sudanese government more time to explain its plan to restore order in the troubled region.

After a one-day meeting in Cairo, Arab foreign ministers also backed an extension of the mandate of the African Union peace force in Darfur until the end of the year.

The United States and Britain have introduced a resolution in the Security Council that would deploy up to 17,000 troops and 3,000 police in the western Sudanese region, despite opposition from the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.

Junior diplomats have started negotiations on the draft, drawn up by Britain, and will resume work on Tuesday.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Lam Akol told the meeting, at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, that the diplomatic activity at the United Nations was "tendentious" and Arab countries should support Sudan's plan instead.

Under the Sudanese plan, the Khartoum government would send 10,500 new government troops to Darfur. The rights group Human Rights Watch says the plan would violate a peace deal and was just a way to avert the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers.

The African Union has about 7,000 soldiers struggling to halt violence in Darfur but the trouble has worsened since the government and rebels signed a peace deal in May.

The United States and its allies have argued that the African Union forces do not have the manpower, resources or financial means to keep the peace there.

A resolution passed by the Arab League council of foreign ministers said: "(The council) asks the Security Council to give the Sudanese government more time to implement its plan to improve conditions and preserve security in Darfur, which it presented to the United Nations on August 2."

It added: "It calls for the postponement of the U.N. Security Council meeting which is due to take place next week in New York...to allow time for consultation and coordination between regional organizations on the role of AU forces in Darfur."

The resolution did not specifically mention the new proposals by the United States and Britain, which reflect frustration with the Sudanese government's refusal to approve a U.N. role in Darfur peacekeeping.

However, it called on Arab countries to fulfil a promise, made at a summit in Khartoum in March, to finance the African Union peace operation in Darfur for six months from Oct 1. The operation has been costing about $17 million a month.

© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Olmert: Syria most aggressive member of the axis of evil

jpost.com staff and ap, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 21, 2006
Syria is the "single most aggressive member of the axis of evil," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday, ruling out a resumption of negotiations with Damascus at this time.

"I am the last person who will say I want to negotiate with Syria," Olmert said in unusually harsh comments. In a visit to northern Israel, Olmert noted that rockets that hit the town in 34 days of Israel-Hizbullah fighting came from Syria.

According to the prime minister, "When Syria stops supporting terrorism, when it stops giving missiles to terror organizations, then we will be happy to negotiate with them."

His comments were made hours after Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter said that he was in favor of withdrawing from the Golan Heights in return for true peace with Syria.

The former head of the Shin Bet told Army Radio, "We have paid similar territorial concessions in the past when we signed peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt."

"Any diplomatic initiative is preferred over war, whether in Syria or Lebanon," Dichter said. "With regards to Lebanon, conditions are even more welcoming than they are with Syria. Lebanon can today begin talks with Israel without the Syrians."

According to the minister, "Talks with Syria are legitimate. If there is someone to talk to on the other side, we should talk. Israel can initiate this or turn to a third party."

In response, Olmert said, "I recommend not to get carried away with any false hopes."

"We are not going into any adventure when terror is on their side," Olmert said of Syria. "We're not going into any negotiations until basic steps are taken which can be the basis for any negotiations."

Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal said there was "no significance" to talk of peace with Israel as long as it does not withdraw from all territory in conquered in 1967. He stressed that Syria would accept the Arab peace initiative only after an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.

Dichter's comments also elicited a flurry of responses from MKs - among them MK Effi Eitam (NU/NRP), a Golan resident, who protested that "withdrawing from the Golan Heights will only endanger the security of Israel."

"Syria associates itself with the evil axis of Hizbullah and Iran, and its goal is to destroy Israel," Eitam said, and declared that Syria "cannot be a partner for discussion."

Fellow NU/NRP MK Aryeh Eldad claimed that "by the same logic, Dichter will certainly suggest we give the Galilee to Iran if they would be so kind as to shoot 4,000 rockets at us. Whoever doesn't understand that the equation 'land for peace' never worked and has only brought about more bloodshed, would do better not to give advice on security matters."

Meretz MK Ran Cohen, however, supported Dichter's calls for negotiations with Syria, demanding that the government "discuss immediately the initiation of negotiations with Syria and Lebanon for peace agreements."

He added, "We must not sit and wait for the next war. A [peace] agreement in exchange for giving back the Golan would disconnect Syria from Iran and disarm Hizbullah."

Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday that the time was not right to resume negotiations with Syria, arguing that Israel was too busy trying to deal with Lebanon and the Palestinians.

Peres said he believes it's unlikely Syrian President Bashar Assad was even contemplating a return to negotiations. "The Syrians, if they are serious (about peace talks), should come and say 'we are interested in holding negotiations,'" Peres said. "I don't see Assad doing this."

Last week Syrian President Bashar Assad warned Israel that peace was not the only way to achieve Syrian goals, referring to the territory Israel captured from Syria during the Six-Day-War, the Golan Heights.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz suggested the possibility of negotiations last week when he said the conflict with Hizbullah may have created a new opportunity for renewed dialogue with Syria.