PM: ‘If Syria wants peace, we will be a genuine partner’

Netanyahu confirms reports of mediation efforts between two countries by US senator Kerry but says they are not new.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Netanyahu speech 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Netanyahu speech 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Israel wants to make peace with Syria, in spite of recent events in the Middle East, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said during a press conference in Jerusalem with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Thursday.
“If Syria truly wants peace, it will find in us a genuine partner to achieving that peace,” Netanyahu said. “In this sense our goal has not changed following the events occurring in our region.”
Netanyahu spoke on the same day that two Iranian warships reportedly docked in Syria.
“I only hope that Syria’s intention is peace, and only time will tell,” he said.
He confirmed reports of mediation efforts between the two countries but said that they were not new.
“Senator [John] Kerry has been trying to mediate between Israel and Syria for several months. Others also try. This too is no secret,” he said.
Other countries have also pursued efforts in Europe and Latin America, he said.
“The problem remains how to conduct negotiations when Syria says: ‘Give me the fruits of negotiations as I want them before we start.’ This is a difficult problem, as you can imagine,” he said.