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The political chaos in Israel means that direct peace talks between Syria and Israel will have to wait for a new Israeli government, and for the new Israeli prime minister to indicate that he or she wants to talk, as discussed in the four-way summit in Damascus yesterday between Syria, France, Turkey and Qatar.
After four rounds of indirect talks through Turkey, Syria made it clear that it wants to move to direct talks with Israel. Syria gave Turkey six points that it sees as important starting points to define what such direct talks might discuss. Turkey will follow up with Israel and see what kind of response there might be, before Syria or Israel move to direct talks.
The new practical atmosphere emerging from Damascus this week is a dramatic shift from the heated rhetoric of the past four years. During which time Syria inveighed against American interference in the region, and America has described Syria as a supporter of terrorism.
All this sound and fury has gone nowhere. The new spirit infused by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has been welcomed by Syria's President Bashar Al Assad.
It is important that yesterday's summit outlined a practical and transparent way forward, and that it did not try to dodge the Americans, but said that Israel and Syria could only go so far in establishing broad principles before involving the Americans.
The summit has also done a lot of good in making clear that Syria has an alternative to its isolated position as the sole Arab friend of Iran. Instead, the visiting presidents of the Gulf Cooperation Council states and European Union have made clear that Syria has an opportunity to shift to a more engaged position with its Arab and other neighbours.
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