Israeli general says it may return Golan to Syria someday

Israel's army chief of staff said on Friday that the country could "theoretically" return the Golan Heights to Syria without compromising security along its northern border.

"When considering military requirements, it is possible to reach an agreement (with Syria) by giving up the Golan Heights,"  Lieutenant-General Moshe Yaalon, the army's chief of staff, said.

Asked whether Israel still needed the Golan, which overlooks its biggest reservoir, the Sea of Galilee, Yaalon said "the army will be able to protect any border...this will be true for any decision the political echelon in Israel will make."

But he indicated that Syria remained a threat to Israel and did not exclude another conflict between the two old foes. "I can't ignore a scenario where an escalation on the Lebanon front leads to (another) war between the armies."

Israel captured the strategic plateau in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized abroad.

Peace talks between the two countries foundered in 2000 largely over the issue of how much of the Golan would be handed back to Syria.

Sharon's government has ruled out peacemaking with Syria unless Damascus ends support for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas and Palestinian militants in revolt against Israel in the West Bank and Gaza, territories it also occupied in 1967.

Source: Xinhua