A leaked text of the so-called US "working paper" on peace between Israel and Syria, confirmed as accurate yesterday by Israeli government officials in Jerusalem, underlines how close the two sides could be to a full treaty, even though several key issues remain to be resolved, reports David Horovitz.
Peace talks between the two countries are set to resume next week in the United States, and President Clinton has set a two-month timetable for the sides to work through their differences.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, said earlier this week that he thought such a schedule was viable; the leaked text of what is essentially a draft treaty demonstrates why.
Drawn up by the American mediators and acknowledged as non-binding at this stage, the nine-article treaty nevertheless indicates that very broad areas of agreement have already been reached in principle between Israel and Syria, two countries still formally at war.
The sides are ready to enter "full diplomatic and consular relations", initiate healthy trading relations and promote tourism jointly.
They are resolved to prevent violence and protect each other's security - which Israel will clearly regard as marking a Syrian commitment to rein in the Hizbullah guerrillas in Lebanon and expel Islamic and other extremist groups from Damascus.
Syria has agreed to work jointly with Israel to administer precious water sources, it is understood that "an early warning ground station" will be maintained atop the Golan Heights, and it is agreed that a new border will have to be demarcated that "supersedes any previous boundary".
There are still several major hurdles to overcome, and these are highlighted in the draft, where text in brackets sets out the differing Israeli and Syrian positions. Most importantly, and contrary to earlier inaccurate leaks of the document, Israel has not formally committed itself to relinquishing the Golan Heights.
Rather, the Israeli position, rejected by Syria, is that a new, unspecified permanent boundary be drawn up, with reference to the "security", "legal" and "other vital interests of the parties", and that any withdrawal will involve only armed forces, not civilians - leaving open the possibility of Israeli residents remaining on the Golan even if the area reverts to Syria. The Syrian position, as is well known, is that all traces of an Israeli presence be removed from the heights.
AFP adds: The US State Department spokesman, Mr James Rubin, said last night that while he was not surprised about the leak, the publication of the document was "particularly unhelpful" and damaged the peace process.