Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said early Thursday that talks with Syria were not possible and that Bush wasn’t interested in speaking to Damascus either: “I can only say that the opinions I heard from the president and from all senior administration staff on the Syrian issue are such that he did not see a feasibility in talks on the American-Syrian track or on the Israeli-Syrian track.”


Reuters via Yahoo!:

Ehud Olmert said he expected little pressure from Washington in the wake of the high profile report by the Iraq Study Group, which called on President George W. Bush to push for Arab-Israeli peace as part of efforts to ease regional tensions.

“The Middle East has a lot of problems that are not connected to us,” Olmert said at a conference in Tel Aviv.

“I am not convinced that this report foists all of the U.S.’s troubles on Israel’s shoulders.”

Link

WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…

If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.

Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.

SUPPORT TRUTHDIG