When peace is the target

Two separate editorials on the same day in the Israeli press last month underlined the confusion that informs analysis on Syria’s intentions regarding the resumption of peace negotiations with Israel. The right-wing Jerusalem Post castigated Syria for its “derisive” response to attempts by the Obama administration to engage with Damascus after the years of isolation under George W. Bush. A day after George Mitchell, the United States Middle East envoy, met with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to further hopes of a resumption of Israeli-Syrian accord, Russia confirmed it would honor its agreement to supply Syria with P-800 Yakhont anti-ship missiles. The Jerusalem Post surmised that the missiles would probably end up in Hezbollah’s hands, enabling it to fulfill General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah’s vow in May to target shipping along Israel’s entire coastline. In fact, Hezbollah probably already has acquired anti-ship missiles larger than the Iranian Noor/C-802 system it used