From September 2004 to September 2006, Syrians and Israelis worked to formulate understandings for a peace agreement between Israel and Syria in a series of secret meetings in Switzerland. Dr. Alon Liel, a former director general of Israel's foreign ministry, and Syrian-American businessman Ibrahim Soliman were the principal personalities participating in discussions that I organized and that were funded initially by Robert O. "Bobby" Muller, president of Veterans for America, and later by the government of Switzerland. Participants were not official representatives empowered to negotiate an agreement, but rather serious and well-connected individuals determined to devise solutions to problems that had obstructed formal peace negotations in the past. Because of the great interest excited in Israel by our efforts, Liel and Soliman appeared in closed session before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on April 12.
Attached is the document the parties drafted, described as a "non-paper," prepared in August 2005. Also included is a transcript of my February 12, 2007 presentation recounting the workings of the "Swiss Track." I hope that you find them to be of interest.
Yours,
Geoffrey Aronson
Foundation for Middle East Peace
And to think, I met with Geoffrey last summer at the Crown Plaza Hotel for discussions. Gee, I could have almost been making peace myself.
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