Assad: Israeli Government Too Weak For Peace - But Not For War

May 10, (EIRNS) - The Israeli government is too weak for making peace, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an address to the Syrian Parliament, but warned that weak governments have been know to launch wars.

"There is no progress in the peace process and there is no contact with Israel over this issue, neither secret nor overt, because Israel is not ready for a just and comprehensive peace, that requires, to be implemented, strong leadership that could make decisive decisions," Assad was quoted saying by DPA, the German press agency. He then warned, "Weak governments in Israel are capable of launching aggression..., we should be cautious." He said that any peace requires a "clear and unequivocal readiness to give back the occupied land to the 1967 borders. The return of the Golan is nonnegotiable for us."

Assad also said that the policy of isolating Syria "has faced nothing but failure, and he "who wants to isolate Syria is in fact isolating himself from the region's issues, because Syria has its role."