JERUSALEM, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Israel says it will not negotiate peace with Syria as long as the Muslim group Hezbollah is allowed to operate on Israel's border or have offices in Damascus.
Israel's Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, has reportedly sent a message to the Syrian government, via a visiting American diplomat, the Jerusalem Post reported Friday.
Mofaz wrote the Syrians that Israel would not start negotiations with Damascus as long as Hezbollah is arrayed along Israel's northern border, and the offices of terrorist groups in Syria remain open.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration has said that Syrian leader Bashar Assad's intentions regarding peace with Israel are not to be determined through words but actions.
"Damascus needs to stop its support for terrorism and start a democratization process," officials in Washington told Israel's ambassador to the United States, Danny Ayalon, Channel One TV reported Friday.
The Bush administration is skeptical about Assad's latest statements about renewing talks with Israel, Channel One reported. It said there appears to be disagreement within the Bush administration as to how seriously the Syrian's president's statements should be treated and, for the moment, the hawks in the administration seem to be leading Washington's response.
