DATE=1/7/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUNDER
TITLE=U-S MILITARY/SYRIA/ISRAEL
NUMBER=5-45197
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=

VOICED AT: 

INTRO:  While Israel and Syria continue to negotiate a 
difficult peace deal, analysts with long experience in 
the Middle East and military affairs say it is likely 
to take large amounts of U-S money, military power and 
intelligence information to get the two sides to sign 
an agreement.  V-O-A's Jim Randle reports from the 
Pentagon.

TEXT:  At the heart of any Israel-Syria peace deal 
will be the issue of security -- namely which country 
will control the strategic Golan Heights, captured by 
Israel in the 1967 war.

Much of Israel was once vulnerable to Syrian artillery 
positions on this high ground.  But in the last 30 
years, Israel has used the strategic Golan to keep 
track of Syrian troop movements and eavesdrop on 
Syrian telephone and radio communications.

Israeli leaders have indicated they are now prepared 
to return the Golan in exchange for certain security 
guarantees.  But the nature of those guarantees is 
what will make or break a peace deal between Syria and 
Israel. 

Technology and U-S assistance maybe the keys. 
Intelligence expert John Pike, of the Federation of 
American Scientists, says improvements in Israeli and 
U-S spy technology may convince top Israeli officials 
that they can safely keep watch over their neighbor's 
military without the Golan.

            /// PIKE ACT /// 

      The Israelis really value the Golan Heights for 
      intelligence collection.  The Israelis now have 
      better (spy) airplanes than they did when they 
      got the Golan Heights. The United States has 
      better (spy) satellites.  And if we are prepared 
      to share our intelligence with the Israelis, 
      they might be prepared to give up the Golan 
      Heights.

            /// END ACT /// 

Other security experts say American troops and 
financial aid will also have to be part of the deal 
before Israel will relinquish the Golan Heights.  
Former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft says 
(in an article he wrote for the New York Times) that 
the Israelis will want a strong and substantial U-S 
presence - including combat troops - to help monitor 
and patrol the newly-drawn borders between Israel and 
Syria.

But Pentagon officials are not eager to make a major 
new, open-ended commitment of troops and equipment 
when they are already straining to handle deployments 
in Kosovo, Korea, Bosnia, the Persian Gulf and 
elsewhere. 

Questions have also been raised about the willingness 
of a Republican-dominated U-S Congress to vote 
billions of dollars in aid to bolster a foreign policy 
success for the Democratic Clinton Administration 
during a presidential election year. During the last 
legislative session, Congress tied up funds for 
implementation of the Wye River peace accords between 
Israel and the Palestinians. Lawmakers only relented 
at the very end of the budget process. 

But Charles Hill, diplomat in residence at Yale 
University, with long experience in the Middle East, 
dismisses such worries.

            /// HILL ACT ///

      I think the package will get through, no matter 
      what.  This is so serious, this is so important.  
      It is the culmination of decades of work by the 
      United States.  Even with all of the reluctance 
      in the Pentagon, questions of (the U-S) Congress 
      being willing to fund it, it just is not going 
      to be stopped if there is anything like a 
      reasonable package that comes out of this 
      negotiation.

            /// END ACT ///

Pentagon spokesman Craig Quigley says U-S officials 
have had consultations and discussions with Israeli 
leaders about the Jewish state's security needs and 
what the United States can do to help.  He says the 
Israelis arrived with a `detailed' shopping list, and 
Washington is likely to give at least some help. 

            /// QUIGLEY ACT ///

      Substantive commitments, of perhaps, items, or 
      money, or people, over a period of time.  I 
      think it is in our nation's interest, it is in 
      the region's interest, it is in the world's 
      interest, to have that part of the world, the 
      Middle East, be a peaceful place.

            /// END ACT ///

Admiral Quigley would give no specifics and would not 
confirm reports that the Israelis have asked for top 
U-S weapons like the cruise missile, airborne early 
warning aircraft, and other expensive high-tech tools 
of modern warfare.

Other Pentagon officials say they expect Israel to 
bargain hard not just with Syria, but with Washington 
as well over how much intelligence, cash, technology, 
and hardware will be necessary to reassure Israeli 
leaders they can safely give up the Golan Heights. 
(Signed). 

NEB/JR/LTD/JO




07-Jan-2000 12:17 PM EDT (07-Jan-2000 1717 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.