The confusion among Israeli diplomatic and intelligence officials on how to handle Syrian peace overtures continued Tuesday when, in a briefing at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni questioned whether Syrian President Bashar Assad was truly interested in peace or merely in negotiations. At the same briefing, Foreign Ministry Diplomatic Research Department head Nimrod Barkan said that Syria was "interested in entering negotiations in order to alleviate international pressure."
But Foreign Ministry officials said Barkan was not endorsing the view of Military Intelligence Research Division head Yossi Baidatz, who told the same panel on Monday that he believes Assad is sincere. Mossad chief Meir Dagan told them the opposite last week, saying the Syrian leader should not be taken seriously because his country was preparing for war with Israel.
"Syria is sending signals it wants negotiations and we are obligated to ask ourselves whether Assad wants only negotiations or if he wants peace at the end of the process," Livni said.
"The Syrians want to negotiate because it helps their situation and aids their effort to overcome the international threats against them, but we have to ask ourselves what we would get at the end of a diplomatic process," she said.