Israel-Syria Detente?

This piece seems to show that Turkey is playing a significant role as an intermediary (and may help the Turks play a larger regional role).  Additionally, there is a lot of chatter on Middle Eastern news sites about the prosepcts of Israeli disengagement from the Golan Heights and its return to Syria (which lost it during the 1967 Six-Day Warand was the site of Syrian offensives during the 1973 Yom Kippur War).
 
This could dramatically change the Middle East geopolitical map.  If Syria and Israel remain at "peace", Hamas will lose a small scale sponsor, Iran will lose an ally (though one of convenience), and America will lose leverage over Syria since it can't rely on coercion from Israel.

Some now speculate that the American release of info regarding North Korea's assistance with a Syrian nuclear reactor (that Israel destroyed last year) may be an effort to forestall peace initiatives as much as it is to put pressure on North Korea.  President Bush is denying this and reiterating that the disclosure is meant to be directed at the North Koreans and the Iranians.  We'll see.
 

 

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