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| Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Turkey is not an honest mediator in Syria negotiations while Syrian President Assad strongly supports Turkey's efforts. Israeli premier told the Israeli cabinet on Sunday that he preferred France as a broker for peace negotiations with Syria. France is the former occupier of Syria. France is also against Turkey's EU membership. Netanyahu stated that he has rejected Syria's call for Turkey to hold such talks. "Israel is ready for talks with Syria without preconditions, ideally direct talks. If there will be a mediator we prefer an honest one. The Turkish prime minister ‘Recep Tayyip Erdogan’ objectively did not strengthen the perception that he could be an honest mediator in recent weeks. I prefer the French," Netanyahu said. Last Wednesday during a meeting in Paris, Netanyahu asked French President Nicolas Sarkozy to tell the Syrians that he was willing to begin direct talks with them anytime, anywhere and without preconditions, The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. Sarkozy offered last week to host an international summit in Paris to resume the Middle East peace talks. Sarkozy's meeting plan does not include Turkey. He first raised the proposal in his Wednesday meeting with Netanyahu, then with the acting Palestinian acting Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and Assad. Syrian President Bashar Assad, after a meeting with Sarkozy on Friday, rejected Israel's proposal for direct talks and said that he would rather have Turkey broker indirect negotiations. Ankara brokered four rounds of indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The sides were so close to an aggrement, however when Israel attacked Gaza without informing Turkey and Syria, the negotiations failed. According to the report, a Turkish official told Israel's Channel 2 in response to Netanyahu's statement that the Israeli PM had made a "senseless and unfortunate decision that will only further isolate Israel and make the region even more explosive." Similarly Turkish IR lecturer Sedat Laciner told the JTW that Israel isolates itself: "France and Israel triy to by-pass Turkey in the Middle East, yet Turkey now has good relations with almost all ME countries including Saudia Arabia, Iran, Syria and Iraq. Turkey is the best mediator for Israel. Turkey understands Israel and Arabs respect the Turks. But the problem is the problem is that no one in the region trust Israel. Israeli PM Olmert destroyed all the trust among Turkish people towards Israel before the Gaza War." Laciner also added "Israel still continues to build illegal houses over the occupied territories and this clearly shows that Israel is not honest in peace negotiations." Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had condemned massive Israeli air strikes on Gaza in 2008, calling them a sign of "disrespect" toward Ankara's peace efforts. The Israeli raids have killed more than 1.400 people in Gaza most of them women and children civilians. The raids came only days after Israeli PM Olmert's visit to Ankara on, when both Erdogan and Turkish President Abdullah Gul urged him to lift a blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. During the meeting with Erdogan, Olmert defended Israel's attacks on Gaza, saying it was inevitable for Israel to respond harshly to attacks by Hamas. In response, Erdogan described the situation in Gaza as "a humanitarian tragedy" and said the blockade of Gaza had been serving to escalate violence in the region. During a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) after the Gaza Attacks, Erdogan said Israel has been using disproportionate power against innocent civilians. Recalling that Olmert had voiced firm determination for continuing direct talks between Israel and Syria, Erdogan, whose government has helped mediate talks between Israel and Syria, said "This operation, launched despite all of these facts, is also disrespectful to Turkey." |