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July 13 (LPAC)--At a meeting with ambassadors of the European Union today, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert continued his spin on how it is Syria--not Israel--that does not want negotiations. Olmert claims that Syria wants talks with Israel only as a way of having talks with the U.S.

"Syria does not want war and neither does Israel, but this does not mean that the situation will turn into negotiations. Assad says he wants negotiations, but in practice he means neogiations with the United States and [President George] Bush and not with Israel," Olmert is quoted as saying by the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Olmert's excuse is an obvious piece of sophistry since there is no way a peace agreement could be signed without the United States as a participant, a fact that Olmert knows. The importance of the U.S. role was underscored by a well-informed Washington intelligence source, who told EIR News Service that Syrian President Bashir Assad cannot go to Israel for a peace foray the way that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat went to Israel in November, 1977. The major difference, said that source, is that the United States under then-President Jimmy Carter, wanted peace to be made between the Egypt and Israel, and backed the Sadat visit. There is no such inclination from the Bush-Cheney White House.

The source added that if Bashir Assad were to suddenly go to Israel now, there could be a coup d'etat in Syria, or he risks assassination on his return.

The report by the EIRNS source, that the U.S. is standing in the way of Israel-Syria peace, was confirmed by a statement from Michael Williams, the United Nations special Middle East Envoy, who attended the Olmert/EU meeting. Williams told Olmert about his recent trip to Damascus where he heard encouraging from senior officials who wanted to hold peace talks.

"The Syrian side has basically said, 'look the work is done. It's here in the drawer. The big issues like water, security, access were all looked at then, were pretty much thrashed out. So if negotiations were resumed, then maybe we could make real progress.' " The Syrians were referring to the previous negotiation under the government of Ehud Barak and President Bill Clinton.