The violent flare-up across the Israeli-Lebanese border between the Irani-Syrian backed Party of God (Hizbullah) and Israeli forces, during the first half of February, may provide the impetus for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon with or without Syrian agreement.

The violence which ha

–

"Full withdrawal for full peace" is an axiom that Israeli and Syrian leaders, along with a clear majority of their public, have long since they accepted. No Syrian leader can accept a partial Israeli withdrawal from the Golan in exchange for warm and normal peace, and no Israeli leader can

As long as Prime Minister Barak delivers a normal peace with Syria, with iron-clad security arrangements, the Israelis will choose the path of peace even if it means a total withdrawal from the Golan Heights and a complete relocation of the settlers.

Demonstrating in Tel Aviv in early January, a

Syria's reluctance to offer Israel immediate peace of reconciliation in exchange for full withdrawal is one of the stumbling blocks that has impeded progress in the current negotiations. Indeed, from the Israeli vantage point, only a warm peace of reconciliation, in which the Israeli and the Syr

As the United States dispatches troops to Kosovo to keep the peace, it may soon have to answer yet another call to play a direct role in finding a solution to the Israeli-Syrian conflict. American troops along with other security arrangements will be needed, to resolve issues of paramount importance

There may be a first real opportunity in 50 years for Israel and Syria to make peace. But this historic opportunity could be lost because of fierce resistance to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights led by the Israeli opposition parties and parties within Barak's own coalition government. Th

The United States should develop a long-term strategy to solve the overall Kurdish problem not only because it is the right thing to do, but also to prevent an otherwise inevitable Middle East ethnic explosion.

The capture and sentencing of Abdullah Ocalan offers an unprecedented opportunity to

–