Israeli president Shimon Peres says Israeli and Syrian leaders should hold direct talks if both sides are interested in forging trust, reported PressTV.
Shimon Peres called for direct Israeli-Syrian negotiations, recalling the groundbreaking visit by Egypt's then-President Anwar Sadat to al-Quds in 1977.
"Had Sadat not come to Jerusalem [al-Quds], we would not have had peace with Egypt", said Peres.
"If the Syrians are genuinely seeking peace, then they must hold a summit meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert," Shimon Peres said on Sunday in a meeting with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. The two met at Peres' official residence in al-Quds.
Such a meeting could take place either in al-Quds or Damascus, said Peres, adding, "But it is an absolute necessity to break the psychological barrier and build trust between the two sides."
Peres further noted that the current president's late father, Hafez al-Assad, refused to meet with him in 1996. He did, however, give his consent in principle to such a meeting through then-US Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who acted as mediator.
Meanwhile the indirect talks between the Israeli and Syrian delegations are continuing in Ankara. A possible meeting between Assad and Olmert at the upcoming Middle East conference in Paris will be on the agenda.
The conference, organized by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is scheduled to be held on July 13th. The Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are invited to the conference, but there has been no indication that they plan to meet.
In May, Israel and Syria launched indirect peace talks, with Turkey acting as a mediator, after an eight-year freeze.
The Syrians want the return of all of the Golan Heights which Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981, a move never recognized by the international community.
Israel demands that Syria break off its ties with Iran as a precondition in their talks, but Syria has said it would reject any preconditions in the talks that call on Damascus to change its relations with other countries or movements.