Is there hope that Syria will make peace with Israel?
Syria is looking for a way out of Arab isolation. It is possible. It’s going to take a long time. In an article, you mentioned a time when a Palesinian negotiator complained that “All the 1948 refugees were ethnically cleansed by Israel,” and that his Israeli counterpart replied “They left on their own accord, or at the urging of the Arab states.” How did you handle such tense moments? I heard that argument constantly. The [diplomatic] meetings were very emotional at times. I never saw people slugging each other, though Israelis and Palestinians could be screaming and yelling at each other…. Yet most of the times we were friends. [In my book] I described how the Palestinian security chief, Jibril Rajub, and the Israeli Army’s central commander, Shaul Mofaz, jokingly lay down to pretend to take a nap in the same bed. Were you viewed with suspicion by Arab negotiators and leaders because you were a Jew? That’s complicated. Everyone moved in cubbyholes. Jews, Arabs, Americans. There were
