Rabin Welcomes Assad Remarks on Peace

TEL AVIV —  Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, reiterating Israel’s willingness to cede part of the occupied Golan Heights, said Friday he welcomed remarks by Syrian President Hafez Assad as a step toward peace.

“It would be a mistake on the part of Israel not to realize that there is a change in the Syrian position,” Rabin told foreign reporters.

“The mere fact that President Assad appeared on Syrian television and spoke about the need to be courageous, to make peace, is a good sign.”

Israel and Syria have softened their rhetoric since the latest round of Arab-Israeli peace talks, the first since Rabin defeated hard-liner Yitzhak Shamir in a June election.

Assad was quoted Wednesday as saying Syria wanted every inch of the Golan Heights in any peace pact, but he added:

“We want the peace of a courageous people, the real peace . . . which guarantees the interests of all.”

Rabin repeated for the third time in three days that Israel was willing to withdraw from part of the strategic Golan plateau that he captured as army commander in the Six-Day War of 1967.

But he said detailed discussions on territorial compromise were premature. “There is no purpose even to tackle territorial compromise unless we know Syria is ready for a fully fledged peace treaty,” Rabin said.

Settlers on the Golan, including members of collective farms who are affiliated with Rabin’s Labor Party, plan demonstrations this week against any territorial deal with Syria.

Israel and Syria are scheduled to resume talks in Washington Monday as part of a U.S.-sponsored peace process which also includes Palestinians, Jordan and Lebanon.

The head of Syria’s team to the peace talks said Friday his country could “never ever think of a unilateral peace with Israel” that did not include the other Arab partners.

Before taking office Rabin had said he would concentrate on reaching an agreement with the Palestinians first, leaving Syria, Israel’s strongest Arab foe, until last.

“If with the Syrians it will go better the Palestinians will have to wait,” Rabin said Friday.