New forum pushes for Syria talks
Academics, intellectuals, former Shin Bet head and former army chief establish group calling on government to respond to Syria's peace overtures
Michael is one of a number of participants in the Forum of the Peace Initiative with Syria, which also includes former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak.
Members of the forum will meet in Jaffa on Sunday evening in an effort to attract the attention of the government and public opinion to their call for peace talks with Damascus.
"After the Lebanon war, a message from Syria was received, calling for negotiations. Israel and Syria are the two strongest elements in this region," Michael said.
"The government, due to internal pressure, or preoccupation with other issues, or American pressure, has not answered this call. I think that ignoring the signal is detrimental for the government," he added.
Syria's turn
Michael said that peace with Syria would complete a process of establishing relations with all of Israel's neighbors, as a peace deal with Lebanon would shortly follow.
"We've made peace with Egypt and Jordan. Now it is Syria's turn," he said.
According to Michael, the new forum represents a broad spectrum of Israeli society, from "academics, a former Shin Bet chief, and a former chief of staff."
"This is a popular movement that can get the attention of the Israeli government, and call for it to answer the Syrian peace signal and enter into negotiations," Michael said.
"Had we entered peace negotiations with Egypt before the 1973 war, we would have saved ourselves thousands of casualties and billions of shekels," the author added.
Michael also said that negotiations with Syria could help cut Damascus off "from the Iranian hug."
"My gut feeling is that the Syrian leadership is patriotic and is not seeking adventurism," he said, adding that Syria's aversion to adventurism should make it possible to disconnect it from its alliance with Tehran.
