2007年VOA标准英语-Israel's Parliament Reviews Unofficial Israel-S

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
12 April 2007

A Syrian-American businessman and a former senior Israeli diplomat¹ briefed a high-level Israeli parliamentary committee Thursday about their efforts to revive Israeli-Syrian peace talks.  VOA's Jim Teeple reports from Jerusalem that both say peace is possible between the countries.  

Ministry2 Director-General Alon Liel, right, 12 Apr 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070531/0856170.jpg" width="211" vspace="2" border="0" />

Ibrahim Suleiman, left, sits next to former Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Liel, (r), 12 Apr 2007

Ibrahim Suleiman, a Syrian-American businessman with close ties to Syria's leadership, and Alon Liel, the former director general of the Israeli foreign ministry briefed the influential³ Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense⁴ Committee about the prospects⁵ for peace with Syria.  After their talks, they told reporters they believe Israel and Syria could conclude a peace agreement in six months.

Suleiman and Liel held eight rounds of Swiss-brokered⁶ unofficial talks over the past three years.   Both men say the talks took place with the knowledge and approval of senior officials in both countries. Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has downplayed the talks, saying Suleiman does not speak for the Syrian government, but Knesset members invited him to Israel to explain Syria's position.  Suleiman says Syria is ready for peace with Israel. 

"Syria is ready to talk peace right now," he said.  "I am convinced that Bashar Assad [Syria's leader] is very sincere and very realistic in his talk.  He wants to talk peace with Israel.  Israel, please answer him. Talk peace to him."

Israel and Syria held multiple rounds of peace talks brokered by officials in the Clinton administration, but the talks collapsed⁷ in 2000 over the issue of who would control the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Israel captured the area along with the Golan Heights in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

During their unofficial talks, Suleiman and Liel drew up a plan for Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights, and for Syria to stop its support for Hezbollah militants⁹ in Lebanon and Palestinian militant⁸ groups such as Hamas. Under their plan the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee would be turned into a park that could be used by both Syrians and Israelis. The two say they submitted the plan to their respective governments, but received no response.  Alon Liel says he doubts if further progress can be made unless Syria scales back its ties with Iran, but if Syria does that, peace talks could be revived.

"Nobody can speak on an exact timetable, but the feeling is that we were very close twice already on the official bilateral¹⁰ level," he said.  "I think we are even closer today with the ideas we created in our channel." 

Israel's government had no official comment on today's meeting. 

Unofficial talks between Israelis and their Arab neighbors are nothing new.  Similar talks between Israelis and Palestinians in the early 1990s led to direct talks resulting in the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord.

1 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

6 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

10 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。