The Qatari newspaper “Al-Arabi Al-Jadid” reported that it had received documents from the British National Archives that revealed new details about the secret talks between Syria and Israel, mediated by the United States, between 1995-1997, as part of the efforts to strive for a peace agreement between the countries. The newspaper believes that the documents shed light on the essential differences and commitments of the two sides, as well as the degree of seriousness on the part of the Israeli side to pursue an agreement with the Syrians.
According to the documents that were revealed, the Syrian foreign minister at the time hinted and threatened that Damascus would not sign any agreement if Damascus did not guarantee the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The Syrian Foreign Minister also stated that Damascus considers the 1994 understandings, the Israeli commitment to withdraw from the Golan Heights according to the borders of June 4, 1967, as an agreement between the two sides. This is according to document number 17323. In Syria, it was noted that the British Foreign Minister at the time was the first to tell the Americans about the secret agreements, which were reached under the auspices of the US in 1994 between Israel and Syria. According to the agreements, Israel undertook to withdraw to the borders of ’67, when the main obstacle was the progress on the route The Syrian in Lebanon.
The British Foreign Minister stated that “territories for peace” should be the principle on which the negotiations are based, and that they are trying to assess to what extent the Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is willing to negotiate with Syria knowing that the final result should be the return of the Golan to Syria. Certain hints indicated that Netanyahu was ready to enter into negotiations based on resolutions 242 and 383 of the UN Security Council. The British Foreign Minister emphasized that he must examine Netanyahu’s intentions, and that he believes that the Syrians do not want the talks to be only “for their benefit”.
According to the documents, there was a meeting between Dennis Ross, the first coordinator of the peace process during the administration of George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton, in which he delivered a message from President Clinton. The American envoy did not reveal the content of the conversation and described it in general terms. Ross assured Assad that Netanyahu is interested in peace talks with Syria, and acknowledged that Syria should start from its current position in the Golan in any resumption of talks. He also said that unlike Arafat, Netanyahu is ready to meet Assad “anywhere and at any time”.