The Golan precedent

Israel politicians and pundits are discussing the prospects of peace on Channel 2 TV. Ofir Akunis, a Likud deputy Cabinet minister and a Netanyahu protégé, points out that for years the US pressed Israel to sign a peace agreement with Hafez Assad and to return the Golan Heights.

Had Israel done so, he suggested, the results right now — with Syria disintegrating and jihadist groups along the border — would have been disastrous.

Akunis said, however, that the new Israeli government is willing to negotiate with the Palestinians beginning “on Sunday morning.”