The European Union's envoy to the peace process, Mr Miguel Angel Moratinos, is due in Damascus today in a desperate attempt to revive talks on the Syrian-Israeli track, suspended 18 months ago. But the Syrians are more suspicious of Israel's intentions than ever because last week the Knesset passed, at first reading, a controversial bill requiring 80 members of the 120-seat house to approve withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights.
Although the Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, promptly pledged to revise the bill to require a simple majority of 61, yesterday the Knesset Speaker sent the bill, as is, to committee. Mr Moratinos's mission was further complicated by a statement by the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr David Levy, that said the fate of the Golan would be decided by an Israeli referendum.
The Golan, once considered the land most easily exchanged for peace, has thus been transformed into a major obstacle. Mrs Ramona Bar Lev and Mrs Marla Van Meter, of the Golan Residents' Committee, made it clear to The Irish Times that the settlers were determined to stay on. They have staged protests against withdrawal from the Golan and, allegedly, rejected a US offer of $5 billion in return for relocation. The majority of Golan settlers, they said, are no longer compliant supporters of the Labour Party which negotiated with Damascus on a pull-out.
About one quarter of the present settlers are affiliated to the National Religious Party, some to the East European immigrants' party and others have joined the Likud, which annexed the conquered territory in 1981, or the Third Way, a breakaway Labour faction dedicated to retaining the Golan.
This means that perhaps two thirds of Golan settlers support the fragile Likud-led coalition and would be prepared to bring it down if it agreed to leave the Golan.
Over the past 30 years the settlers have become deeply attached to the area. The sparsely populated, rocky, summer-gold Golan plateau, covered in bushes, brush and dried grasses, rises abruptly from the lush green shore of the Sea of Galilee just north of the rolling fields in the Beit She'an region.
"The Golan is a separate place, a safe haven," Mrs Bar Lev asserted.
The Golan is a haven because there is no ongoing conflict between pre-1967 inhabitants and Israelis now living there. Before June 1967, 100,000 Syrians lived in more than 100 villages and hamlets which were razed by Israel when it captured the Heights and drove out the populace.
Today the refugees have trebled in number and live scattered throughout Syria, while only 16,000 Druze remain in four villages. And 16,000 Israelis have settled in 32 communities, including the town of Qazrin with 6,000 inhabitants.
Israelis and Druze, most of whom have retained their Syrian nationality, coexist uneasily. Druze men work for the Israelis as manual and farm labourers.
The Kulturkampf between religious and secular Jews afflicting Israel "proper" has, so far, not poisoned the internal peace of the Golan community. "We have created our own paradise somewhat disconnected from Israel where there is no friction between people with different lifestyles," said Mrs Bar Lev, whose husband, an archaeologist turned administrator, has served as mayor of Qazrin for the past 18 years.
The springs rising in the Golan provide 30 per cent of Israel's water and the area has always been rich agriculturally Settlers grow grapes, apples, pears, plums, apricots, bananas, mangoes and avocados, as well as field crops such as wheat, tomatoes and onions. In addition to farms and orchards, the Israelis have established a modern, California-style winery, basic tourist facilities which receive 1.7 million visitors a year, small businesses and light industry. "Unlike the West Bank, where settlements are dormitory suburbs for Israel, the Golan supports its population," Mrs Bar Lev remarked.
While politicians and generals argue that Israel seized the Golan for security reasons, the late Gen Moshe Dayan, who served as Defence Minister in 1967, said the local kibbutzim hankered after the rich, well-watered Golan and put pressure on the government to capture it. "They didn't even try to hide their greed for that land," he told a young reporter, who kept their conversations secret until recently. That rich land remains a casus belli.