Since the 1967 war, families have been coming to the hilltop to shout their news and, on the Syrian side of the divide, to point out their family homes to anyone willing to listen. But after Ehud Barak's victory in the Israeli elections in May, however, for the first time since 1996 it seems possible that talks on the Golan Heights issue could be on the cards. Syria says there can be no peace without a full withdrawal from the area, a strategic plateau, but Israeli security chiefs are divided on whether to do this. In his inaugural speech on Wednesday, Mr Barak told the Syrian leader, Hafez al-Assad, that Israel wanted a peace agreement based on UN security council resolutions that call for Israel to withdraw from Arab territories it occu pied in 1967. We will discuss those points which we didn't agree on, such as security, but there is no discussion on the depth of withdrawal.
Talks are more likely now for a number of reasons.
The US, the main sponsor of the Middle East peace process, is likely to be preoccupied next year in the run-up to the November 2000 presidential elections. Mr Assad too has his reasons for wanting peace. He would like to attribute some success of the peace process to his son. Western diplomatic sources said successful talks between the sides would involve difficult decisions that only Mr Assad was in a position to make. Assad also has a subjective desire to retrieve the Golan.