Both the Hashmonean and Shira Bat Sarah noted this story in comments.
The first mention was in Ha’aretz:
U.S. President George W. Bush has apparently offered his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, to press Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights if Damascus promises to cut its relations with Iran, the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jareida reported on Friday.
According to the report, Bush made the offer in a handwritten letter transferred to Assad by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The second was in Ynet:
“In the letter, Bush suggested finalizing the agreement within several weeks, before the US presidential elections, in order to push the Middle East peace process, an achievement the president will be able to proudly present before leaving the White House in January.”
The same source added that the delegation accompanying Abbas on his visit to Syria “was unaware of the letter or its details, and the US insisted that this be carried out secretly and far away from the official channels.”
The newspaper went on to report that the American ambassador to Damascus was not informed about the issue as well.
I’m not familiar with all the protocols of diplomatic contacts but this seems highly irregular. While I’ll acknowledge that in many ways President Bush has been a disappointment when it comes to Israel, this suggests that he has totally rejected deeply held beliefs that have held sway over much of his term in office.
Why would anyone trust a secret letter to Abbas, someone whose own standing is somewhat in doubt? Wouldn’t such a message be given to a Syrian envoy rather than to another (nominal) head of state?
And of course Abbas or someone close to him would have a reason to fabricate this letter. They’d be suggesting that Israel ought to deal with Syria – and by extension, Abbas – before it is forced to. This news story seems to be taken from David Landau’s “rape” fantasy.
Joshua Landis, not someone I’d usually quote, also finds the story incredible.
The following Haaretz report sounds completely untrustworthy. How could Abbas and his entourage be “unaware of the content of Bush’s letter,†for Assad and yet the Palestinian who has presumably leaked the contents to Haaretz was in the know? How could Jack Khoury publish something that sounds so improbably silly?
He writes that Ha’aretz has retracted the story, but links to the original article.
Like I wrote above, President Bush has been something of a disappointment regarding Israel, but promising to pressure Israel over the Golan in order to wean Syria away from Iran seems a bit much. And the claim from Abbas or someone near him is just not credible.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
