Israel should return Golan for peace with Syria: minister

Israeli Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said on Monday that in return for a genuine peace with Syria, it would be legitimate for Israel to give back Golan Heights, Army Radio reported.

Dichter said that he would be willing to cede the Golan Heights, which was captured from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, adding that meant a return to the internationally recognized border.

"In return for a true peace with Syria or with Lebanon, I think that what we did with Egypt and with Jordan is legitimate here as well," Dichter was quoted as saying.

In exchange for return of all of the Sinai peninsula, which was taken by Israel in the 1967 war, Egypt fully normalized relations with the Jewish state in their 1979 peace treaty. Jordan also developed full relations with Israel in a 1994 treaty that included some return of territory.

If a viable party exists on the other side, then holding peace talks with Syria is legitimate, Dichter said.

Despite the breakdown of the peace process with the Palestinians, Dichter said that the failures of the land-for-peace strategy should not rule out such a principle in the future.

However, Dichter's remarks were immediately slammed by rightist politicians. Knesset (parliament) member Yuval Steinitz said that "it would be folly to give up the Golan in an effort to achieve some agreement with Syria, stable or not."

"The Golan Heights is a part of the state of Israel. It bears critical importance for the security of the state, the peace of the state, its ability to drink (water) and to make the desert bloom in this difficult region," said Steinitz.

The Heights, a plateau on the border of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, was captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War.

Although Syria regained parts of the Heights during the 1973 Middle East War, large areas of the strategic plateau have remained under Israeli control.

Source: Xinhua