\ I-that these two politically scarred veter-
ans enjoy.
No guarantees exist, of course, that
the next Syrian leader will ingratiate
himself with Israel. That successor or
collective leadership may be worse
than what Assad portrays and offers.
In his superb book, "The Brink of
Peace-The Israeli-Syrian
Negotiations," (Princeton, 1998), for
\''Iner Israeli Ambassador to the United
,-
States Itamar Rabinovich, substanti-
ates the claim that Assad could have
had an agreement with Rabin twice in
the 1990s, but did not accept three of
Rabin's conditions: a testing period in
which the degree of peace Syria grant-
ed would be matched by the degree of
Israel withdrawal; the implementation
\_ of a Syrian effort to show the Israeli
/- public that a real change in political
attitude was taking place; and the
establishment of a discreet bilateral
negotiating track to keep communica-
tion open.

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Don't wait for
the next Arab
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negotiate.

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If Assad could not accept those
conditions yesterday, will a successor
be more forthcoming tomorrow? Not
likely. So Israel and the United States
must find a way to deal with Assad
today. Probe every possible avenue.
Don't give away the store without
something guaranteed in return. Don't
get so bogged down on an 11, 13, or
15 percent withdrawal from the West
Bank, that one forgets about Syria.
Too many times in past Arab-Israeli
negotiations, the Palestinian issue and
other d , stractions obscured the Syrian-
Israeli track.
The next Syrian leaders are not
likely to have the charisma or moxy
to reach even an interim non-bel-
ligerency agreement with Israel. Arab
oil producing states, western
European countries, and the United
States need to put a financial pack-
age together to tempt Assad. Assad is
a tough nut to crack, but letting the
clock tick into the next Syrian
leader's period without other con-
certed efforts will in hindsight be
seen as missed opportunities. Maybe
even tragic ones.

❑

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se\ Mtisic Reviews hi

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emtertaimmomt yr

Detroit Jewish News

8/7

1998

45