Israel's New Syrian View

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Saturnine by disposition, Syrian President Hafez Assad is not known for saying anything nice about anyone. So it astonished all manner of Middle East pundits last week when he showered praise on the leader of his No. 1 enemy, Israel. Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak, Assad told an Arabic newspaper, is a "strong and honest man" who had a "real desire for peace." Barak blew a few kisses of his own, crediting Assad with creating a "strong, independent, self-confident" country.

The Middle East is not often a land of such sweet words. The intermedia flirtation between the two leaders has added muscle to rumors that the new Israeli leader will move fast toward a peace agreement with Syria. Last week Barak was still finalizing his government, but he seems intent on starting off his term with a dramatic gesture. Peace with Syria would fit the bill. An expected adjunct agreement with Lebanon would mean an end to the state of war on all of Israel's borders.

Assad has long wanted to reclaim the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau captured by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967, the loss of which he regards as a personal and national indignity. Outpowered militarily, Assad knows negotiations are his best option. The Syrian leader, 68, suffers multiple ailments, which are thought to include diabetes and heart disease. He is eager to prepare the succession of his son Bashar, 34, a mild-mannered, British-trained ophthalmologist who emerged as heir apparent only after his elder brother Basil died in a 1994 car crash. "Assad has more a sense of urgency now because he would like to strike the deal himself," says Bassma Kodmani-Darwish, an analyst at the Ford Foundation in Cairo. "He would rather go as the man who brought the Golan back."

Barak, a former army chief, imagines his legacy as that of a warrior turned statesman who completed the circle of peace around Israel. The incoming PM promises to proceed toward a final agreement with the Palestinians, but aides say the Syrians are his first priority. With the Palestinians, Barak can expect drawn-out negotiations involving issues like the status of Jerusalem and the future of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories. By contrast, a Syrian deal could come quickly--possibly within a year. "With the Syrians, it's cleaner," says an aide close to Barak. "The deal can be his, not something he inherits from previous governments."

Making peace with Syria may be a prerequisite for fulfilling Barak's most concrete campaign pledge: to withdraw within a year Israel's occupation forces from south Lebanon, where they are fighting a costly, no-win war with the Hizballah militia. Barak wants an agreement from Lebanon that its army will disarm Hizballah and protect northern Israel from infiltration and rocket fire. Lebanon won't make that deal without the approval of Syria, which doesn't want to release Israel from its Lebanon quagmire without a reward.