Welcome to The Micah Report, my ruminations on Israel, terror & security and the Middle East as well as politics and world events. Thanks for stopping by.

I've been thinking:
There is an art to the game of negotiation that's been perfected by several Arab leaders. Arafat was king when it came to this negotiating style. Now, Bashar al Assad of Syria is trying his hand.

Syria, after prodding by Egypt, has announced that they want to re-establish the negotiations with Israel that broke off in 2000.

Sounds good, right?

The UN special envoy to the Mid East thinks so. He says it would be a mistake for Israel to decline and that Syria wants to negotiate without conditions.

But pay attention. This is a farce, not an invitation to negotiate.
The Syrians may say that there are no pre-conditions, but their basic premise belies that. They want to start "where the negotiations broke off in 2000."

That, in and of itself, is a precondition!

That is how Arafat used to negotiate. It is a classic form of moving the goalposts. The reason for stopping negotiations then, after concessions were already made, now becomes the starting point of the new negotiations. It is the perfect ploy.

Stall negotiations only to restart them in order to gain more.

It would be wise for the US and the West to wait, watch and see how it plays out.