Israel and Syria said on Wednesday they had launched indirect peace talks mediated by Turkish officials in Istanbul, the first confirmation of negotiations between the long-time enemies in eight years.
In co-ordinated statements, Israel and Syria said they had begun an open dialogue with the aim of a comprehensive peace. Turkey said delegations of both countries, officially at war since Israel's creation 60 years ago, were already in Istanbul.
"It will be a very long process. The direct talks themselves have not yet started," said a senior Israeli official, an expert on relations with Syria, which seeks the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Analysts, including former senior Israeli officials, believe there is little prospect of a peace deal between Israel and Syria without a shift in US policy toward Damascus, possibly once President George W. Bush steps down in January. The United States, Israel's key ally, said it did not object to talks between Israel and Syria and was not surprised by the development.
US hostility to Syria and to its allies in Iran and Lebanon has been cited as a barrier to a final deal under which Israel has said it could hand over the Golan Heights. "The two sides have begun indirect talks under Turkish auspices," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement released two days before he was due to undergo further police questioning over suspected bribe-taking.
"They have decided to conduct the dialogue in a serious and continuous manner with the aim of reaching a comprehensive peace," it said. Syria's Foreign Ministry said the talks would be conducted in a spirit of good will. Turkish officials said they were likely to continue in rounds lasting several days, once or twice a month.
In Washington, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "We hope that this is a forum to address various concerns we all have with Syria - Syria's support of terrorism, repression of its own people, and so we will see how this progresses."
News of the talks drew accusations from Olmert's political foes that he was trying to divert attention from a new criminal investigation that could drive him from office. He has denied any wrongdoing in receiving funds from a US businessman.
Israeli government officials said discussions on reopening dialogue with Turkish mediation had begun last year. Olmert, one the officials said, gave Syria a "formula" on the Golan Heights "that (President Bashar al) Assad wanted", though the details remain secret.
Israeli President Shimon Peres spoke of "preliminary contacts" and said it was too early to judge their value. Eli Yishai, a cabinet minister and member of the Shas party, a major partner in Olmert's fragile governing coalition, responded to news by cautioning against handing the strategic plateau to "the axis of evil". Israeli officials pledged that a peace process with Syria would not come at the expense of statehood talks with the Palestinians that Washington hopes can achieve a deal this year.
In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: "We are hearing news about Syria and Israel, we hope that the two parties will reach a peaceful solution." Israel and Syria last held peace talks, in the United States, in 2000 but they collapsed after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on the fate of the Golan Heights.
A dispute over control of the shore of the Sea of Galilee, which the Golan Heights overlook, was widely seen as the main stumbling block. The territory is also close to Damascus. Olmert has said he is willing to discuss handing back the Golan Heights to Syria in return for Damascus severing ties with Iran and guerrilla movements hostile to Israel, notably the Palestinians of Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.
Some 18,000 Israelis have moved to the Golan Heights and about 20,000 Druze Muslims also live there. Israel gave the Druze the option of citizenship after annexing the territory, in a move not recognised internationally, though many rejected it. In September, Israeli warplanes bombed what US officials said was a suspected North Korean-built nuclear facility in Syria. That drew no apparent retaliation from Damascus.
Analysts believe there is little prospect of a peace deal. One view is that, aside from territory, Israel has little to offer Syria and that Damascus would move its allegiances away from Tehran only on the prospect of being embraced economically and diplomatically by the United States and its allies. "The current US administration is very hostile to the Syrian regime. Probably you still need the next administration to come to office for this effort to come near completion," said Ezzedine Choukri-Fishere, director of the Arab-Israeli Project at the International Crisis Group think tank. "But it is a very positive development they are talking to each other at this level at this time." US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said this month Washington would support Turkish-brokered talks between Israel and Syria.
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