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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| ‘Israel Paid Syria $100 Million for Golan,’ says Sadat Aide |
| 2011-11-15 |
| Israel paid Syrian President Bashar Assad’s grand-uncle $100 million for the Golan Heights before the Six-Day War in 1967, says a former close friend to assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Dr. Mahmoud Jame’ said Sadat was briefed on the deal, according to the Jordanian-based Albawaba website. Jame’, a member of the first Consultative Council in Egypt, said, “One morning Sadat took me with him in private and without a guard to the (Syrian part of the) Golan Heights, and I swear by the Almighty G-d that he put his hand on my shoulder and as we were standing on the Golan Heights, he told me literally, ‘Look, Mahmoud, this is the Golan. Can any power seize it so easily, even if it is Israel?” Sadat’s friend replied, “This is impossible,” and Sadat replied, “I will tell you a dangerous secret – the Golan Heights were purchased by Israel for $100 million. The check was received by both Hafez and Rifa'at al-Assad and deposited in their accounts in a Swiss bank.” In return, Hafez Assad ordered the Syrian forces to withdraw immediately from the Golan Heights in the June 1967 war without firing a single shot and handing it over to Israel, Jame’ continued. The facts tell a different story. “This story and my testimony of this event, has been kept secret for many years until 1999, when I alluded in the book ‘I Knew Sadat’ to the incident without revealing the full details. “In 2006, when I was hosted by Almihwar channel, I provided the full details frankly, to the extent that even Moataz was stunned. “The next day, Almihwar hosted Mr. Amin Gemayel, Lebanon’s former president, and the subject was raised with him. He supported my words. Then the Beirut-based Future channel tried to invite me to Beirut to discuss the subject, but I apologized, and refused.” Syrian sources told Albawaba that Jame’s claim is “baseless" and part of a campaign to smear Assad. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #6 This is an old one - I remember reading News Artics to this effect on-n-off in the late 1960s thru mid-1970's, but the Syrians + Arab States had always denied the sale. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-11-15 21:11 |
| #5 Don't be confusing me with the facts. It fits the prototype. Just like a jew. That's good enough for me. Especially when it comes from a fount of veracity like some guy named Mahmoud. |
| Posted by: Goober Goobelopolous 2011-11-15 19:25 |
| #4 'moose. The claim is, money was paid before the war---for giving up without a fight. There was quite a bit of fight. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-11-15 14:55 |
| #3 Ordinarily I would think so, but the Israelis in past have been downright weird when their "guilt gland" starts pumping. In this case, and many others, when they do something in a fair fight, afterwards they try and "make up" by paying for it with cash. It is a Jewish cultural thing that makes sense to them, but is often interpreted by outsiders as adding insult to injury. In some ways it is not unique to Jews. Muslims are just the opposite in that they believe offenses, even murderous ones, can be paid off if the family agrees. The US has paid out a heck of a lot of "blood money" deals in Iraq and Afghanistan, even when it was obviously fraud on the part of locals. Paying $100m for the Golan Heights may actually be legit, even if the Israelis were conned by the guy. The Israelis didn't care, as long as they got title, as far as they were concerned. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-11-15 14:25 |
| #2 Anonymoose, this is yet another "Yeah, we didn't lose this to the Joos militarily, we wuz sold out by da top guys in da family!" propaganda line, at the time when they're trying to overthrow the family. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2011-11-15 09:42 |
| #1 Given the inflation rate, this would be about $700m in 2011 dollars. Practically speaking, it would be a good deal for the grand-uncle, who might not have even mentioned it to his brother. Hafez, his father, was born into a poor family, and was the first one of the family to attend high school. So his father's brother would have almost certainly been poor until his nephew, Hafez, came into power. He might have convinced the Israelis that he had influence over his nephew, because it is unlikely that he had any personal stake in the Golan Heights. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-11-15 09:22 |