Yitzhak Benhorin
Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East Tuesday that indirect Israel-Syria talks were "a positive sign," but stressed that no peace would be possible until Damascus withheld funds and arms from Hizbullah and Hamas. "On the one hand, Syria has been willing to show that it will engage, at least indirectly, with the Israelis," Feltman said. "On the other hand, they are in fact the conduit for the arms shipments to Hizbullah, and also host the Hamas political leaders who have been clear in their rejection of the conditions that would lead to Palestinian reconciliation, a condition that would lead to real Israeli-Palestinian peace."
He said he had stressed during his recent visit to Damascus that U.S. policy had not changed simply because it was engaging Syria in dialogue.
(Ynet News)
