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JERUSALEM, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Peace with Lebanon and Syria is possible, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak said while touring Israel's northern border Thursday. One day the volatile area will be peaceful, Barak said, as he stood at the Israel-Lebanon border accompanied by senior military officials.
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"In the past there were those who dreamed of peace with Egypt and getting to see the pyramids up close. We later achieved peace with Jordan as well. Alongside the IDF's (Israel Defense Forces) alertness, we plan to make peace," Ynetnews.com quoted Barak saying. "We must not lose hope even for a moment," Barak said.
The defense minister noted Israel is currently in the midst of negotiations with the Palestinians and said he hoped Israel would be able to overcome the obstacles that lay ahead.
On the eve of his departure for Damascus, U.S. envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell confirmed at a press conference in Jerusalem Wednesday that Washington is intensifying its effort to renew peace talks between Israel and Syria, the Haaretz daily reported Thursday.
Washington does not consider the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations a barrier to Israeli-Syria talks, Haaretz quoted Mitchell saying. On the contrary, he said, the two tracks could help each other.
The Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida reported that Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked the United States to convey a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad saying he believed Israel and Syria could reach an agreement within a year.
