Mordechai8217;s dream

Israel8217;s former defence minister and prime ministerial candidate Yitzhak Mordechai said if he is elected in May, his dream is to meet Israeli foe President Hafez al-Assad of Syria. 8220;If I am elected prime minister, my dream is to finally meet President Assad to implement a structure that could resolve our problems and differences and I am confident we will succeed,8221; he said in an interview with Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.

Peace talks between Israel and Syria have been frozen for three years. Syria insists negotiations resume where they left off under Israel8217;s previous Labour government in February 1996 with an Israeli commitment to withdraw from the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in 1967. But Israel8217;s current hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused. Mordechai was fired by Netanyahu last month just before he quit the ruling Likud Party to form the Centre Party and challenge his former boss for the premiership in the May 17 elections. He and fellow moderates have expressed awillingness to cede some of the Golan Heights to make peace with Syria.