"For the first time in years, the possibility of Israel returning the Golan Heights to its arch-enemy, Syria, has made an unexpected comeback," The Globe's Patrick Martin wrote Saturday in his essay All quiet on the Golan Heights
"Syrian President Bashar Assad announced last week that he had received from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert an assurance that Israel was willing to withdraw from the occupied plateau, in exchange for a peace treaty with Syria.
"Coming on the heels of Israel's military assault on an apparent nuclear reactor in northeastern Syria in September and the assassination of a leading Hezbollah figure in the streets of Damascus in February, many were surprised that the confrontational attitude of the two countries had so quickly changed.
"They shouldn't have been," Mr. Martin argued. "The makings of a deal have been in place for more than a decade . . . "
The Globe's Patrick Martin
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"A peace agreement between Israel and Syria would be nothing to sneeze at," he continued.
"To Israel, it means a recognized peaceful border with the last two Arab states on its frontier (for as Syria goes, Lebanon is sure to follow). It means overland passage to Europe for trucks and tourists, as well as the likely normalization with most, if not all, of the Arab world.
"And while the hope of some Israelis is to pry Syria away from its patron, Iran, and away from its client, Hezbollah, neither is likely to happen as a result of a peace treaty. That, however, might actually be to Israel's advantage. Having Syria wield influence with Hezbollah could be a good way to keep the group in line.
"To Syria, a treaty means, first and foremost, the return of its territory and national pride. But it also means unprecedented economic opportunity, both with Israel and as a conduit for regional trade. And it means that longed-for acceptance by the United States, which has blown hot and cold in its attitude toward Damascus."
Whether you agree or not, it's a provocative thesis, so we're glad that Mr. Martin was online earlier today to take your questions on his essay and other Mideast issues.
Your questions and Mr. Martin's answers appear at the bottom of this page.
Mr. Martin was The Globe and Mail's Middle East correspondent from 1991-95, and Foreign Editor from 1995-99.
He has travelled widely throughout the Middle East, beginning in 1971, on various assignments throughout the 1980s and, most recently, on assignment in Lebanon in 2006.
Born in Toronto, Mr. Martin joined The Globe in 1984 after three years as host of CBC Radio's Sunday Morning program. He has a law degree from the University of Western Ontario, and spent the 1989-90 academic year as a Thomson Fellow studying modern Arab history and Islam at the University of Toronto. He is the co-author of Contenders: The Tory Quest for Power (1983).
Mr. Martin is also a regular member of TVOntario's foreign affairs panels.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
Jim Sheppard, Executive Editor, globeandmail.com: Welcome, Patrick, and thanks for joining us today to take questions from our readers. We've got a lot of them.
Patrick Martin, Comment Editor, The Globe and Mail: It's good to be here, Jim.
There's lots to talk about in a week in which Israel is celebrating its 60th anniversary, and Palestinians are marking their naqba or "catastrophe," and talk of negotiations between Israel and Syria is in the news.
Job of The Book: This has "bad idea" written all over it.
Last time Syria had the Golan Heights, they just shelled Israeli towns and villages and farms from there, making life unbearable for the Israelis in the north. It was very similar to what Hamas is doing to the Israelis in Sderot right now, only it was with military grade shells.
