Starting in 1999, I have been following clandestine diplomacy between Damascus and Jerusalem. Here are the various writings:
- "The Road to Damascus: What Netanyahu almost gave away," The New Republic, July 5, 1999. Reveals the story of the secretive and unusual diplomacy in mid-1998, when three private American citizens, businessman Ronald Lauder, his aide Allen Roth, and magazine publisher George Nader, made nine trips to each of Damascus and Jerusalem, trying to secure a Syrian-Israeli peace treaty; the article also delves into the dispute over what Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered to Syrian dictator Hafiz al-Assad.
- "What Was Binyamin Netanyahu Ready to Concede on the Golan Heights?" DanielPipes.org, April 13, 2001. Records new information about the 1998 negotiations as it appears.
- "A New Netanyahu vis-à-vis Syria?" DanielPipes.org, January 8, 2004. I admire a statement on Syria ("Israel should not have to be the only one making concessions for a peace agreement") by Israel's current finance minister.
- "[Dennis Ross on] Strange Twists in Syrian-Israeli Diplomacy." FrontPageMagazine.com, August 6, 2004. Ross's memoir, The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace, picks up on the Lauder-Nader negotiations in August 1999, just after Netanyahu lost the prime ministry in May 1999 to Ehud Barak and my history left off in June 1999. I stitch together his first-hand account of Syria-Israel diplomacy for the impact of the 1998 negotiations on later developments.
- "Netanyahu Again Offers the Golan Heights to Syria?" DanielPipes.org, October 14, 2012. Follows reports about Netanyahu's second round of diplomacy with Damascus in early 2011, one said to be "very close" to a breakthrough when the Syrian populace rebelled in March 2011 and brought it to an abrupt end.
(October 14, 2012)
