Barak expects pressure, Clinton hasn't given up on treaty

WASHINGTON -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak expects to be pressed by President Bill Clinton to accept new Syrian proposals that would essentially share the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, regarded as one of the last remaining obstacles in peace efforts between Damascus and Jerusalem.

Aides said they expect Clinton to urge Barak to consider conceding sovereignty over the northeastern shore while retaining access to the area. The proposal reflects messages that Syria has conveyed to Washington over the last week.

The chief reason Clinton has called Barak, the aides said, is the president's reflect his determination to achieve a peace treaty between Israel and either the Syrians or the Palestinians before his term expires. Aides said the president believes an Israeli-Syrian deal is still possible despite the failure of the March 26 summit with Syrian President Hafez Assad in Geneva.

Last week, Barak aides in the prime minister's office and Defense Ministry held talks in Washington on such issues as water rights and borders with Syria.

The Syrian clarifications relayed to Washington reflect the proposal being advanced by British author Patrick Seale, a confidant of Assad. Seale has called for Syrian sovereignty over the northeastern shore of the lake while Israel would retain control over the lake itself.

But Barak plans to reject any suggestion that he cede on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Aides said that the prime minister is said to believe that a Syrian presence on the sea would be immediately followed by an attempt by Damascus to claim the lake. On Monday, Israeli officials reported that the level of the lake has dropped for the first time this year, signalling a water crisis in the summer.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. EST. Barak arrived in Washington from Cairo where he met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and heard new proposals from Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk A-Shaara. Aides to Barak said the A-Shaara proposals did not break new ground.

Aides said the prime minister believes that Assad apparently feels that a peace treaty with Israel could endanger Damascus's hold on Lebanon, where Syria has deployed 35,000 troops. The aides said Syria also faces rising domestic opposition to a peace treaty with Israel.

Barak, who arrived early Tuesday in Washington, has tried to play down the chances of a breakthrough in his meeting later in the day with Clinton. Aides said that the Syrian proposals relayed orally last week to U.S. ambassador to Damascus Ryan Crocker essentially ruled out any concessions regarding the Sea of Galilee.

"There is a view that says the talks with Syria have been pushed off for a considerable period of time," Israeli minister Haim Ramon, who often speaks for Barak, said on Tuesday. "As long as the Syrians express the positions over the last few days -- these positions are more hard-line than before -- if there could be such a thing."

Ramon said the Syrians have not replied to Israeli questions of when Damascus is prepared to open embassies and normalize relations with the Jewish state. Syria has also been vague regarding security arrangements and an early-warning station on the Golan Heights. "The Syrians gave very inadequate answers," he said.

Foreign Minister David Levy agreed. "Whenever it appears that a window to Syria has opened, it takes no more than a few days, sometimes only hours, and it turns out that that the same hand which opened the window letting in sunshine and fresh air just as quickly shut it," Levy said.

U.S. officials said the Syrian responses relayed last week leaves mediators in Washington with little room for maneuver. "There is not much give," U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said. "But I do think it's important they've responded."

Officials refused to disclose the contents of the Syrian message. "I'm not going to be able to get into the specifics of that," State Department spokesman James Rubin said, "other than to say that we still believe that there are gaps and we were going to continue to work to see if we can overcome."

"If the Syrian view of peace is to dictate to us, and to demand a border line set by force, then the Golan will remain in the hands of Israel," Levy said.

In an attempt to pressure Syria, Israeli officials said they will launch construction of 200 apartments in Israeli communities in the Golan Heights, captured in the 1967 war. For their part, Syrian newspapers on Tuesday criticized Barak's policy and warned that he would be responsible for the failure to reach an agreement with Damascus.