Israel denies Golan Heights part of plan to leave Lebanon

JERUSALEM, March 22 (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports that the Jewish state agreed to return part of the Golan Heights to Syria if Damascus backed an Israeli proposal to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon. Netanyahu was quoted as telling his Cabinet that Syria could raise any issue it wanted in negotiations with Israel, but that the Jewish state was not ready to resume negotiations where they left off with Syria. Israeli-Syrian negotiations were suspended two years ago by then-Prime Minister Shimon Peres after Syrian President Hafez Assad refused to denounce a series of Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Israeli officials have recently voiced their support of U.N. Security Council Resolution 425 — which was issued 20 years ago and called for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon — on the condition that the Lebanese government steps in and maintains peace in the region. Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon — it has 30,000 troops stationed there – – has rejected the offer, saying that Israeli implementation of the resolution should be unconditional. Political analysts have said it is unlikely Israel could reach an agreement with Lebanon in the face of Syrian opposition. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai was slated to visit the United States later this week to discuss the Israeli proposal with American and U.N. officials. Before leaving for Washington, Mordechai was expected to meet here Tuesday with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The U.N. chief traveled to the Middle East this week to discuss a resumption of Israeli-Syrian negotiations and Israel’s proposal to leave southern Lebanon.