Barak yesterday told coalition leaders regarding his expectations of the Clinton-Assad summit. There's no over-optimism. It's impossible to know where this will go. Meanwhile, both in internal discussions and in telephone conversations with Turkish President Suleyman Demirel and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday, Barak stressed that, if a deal is not struck, Israel would redeploy from southern Lebanon this June, and would not hesitate to retaliate harshly if Hizbullah attacked the North. Assad is very stressed by Israel's decision to withdraw from Lebanon in June, so therefore if talks are to resume, they will go quickly.
Peace is a structure.
It is consent. It is openness. It is security, water, relations of open borders and exchange of ambassadors. If nothing comes out of Geneva, we will know where Syria wants, or rather does not want, to be heading. Wary that Sunday's meeting could go wrong, the Americans have decided not to schedule a press conference after the talks.