[Foreign Affairs, March-April 2009] Dore Gold and Shimon Shapira - In 1998, when Netanyahu exchanged messages with Assad through Ronald Lauder, at no point did Netanyahu agree to withdraw from the Golan Heights, as has been suggested. Netanyahu refused to provide any map of withdrawal, let alone the line that Assad sought. At the end of these contacts, Assad inquired just where Netanyahu envisioned the future Israeli-Syrian border in relation to the 1967 line. He wanted to know how far east the final line would be: "Dozens of meters, hundreds of meters?" Netanyahu's answer was that the border would be "miles" east. Dore Gold was former foreign policy advisor and Brig.-Gen. (res.) Shimon Shapira was former military secretary to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
2009-09-10 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive