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Source: http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-israel-syria-20160417-story.html
Israel Signals to Protect Its Interests in Any Syrian Peace Deal
(Los Angeles Times) Joshua Mitnick - Netanyahu's declaration that Israel will never relinquish control over the Golan Heights comes as the Syrian peace talks in Geneva sputtered on. "Geneva presents another opportunity for Netanyahu to lay down a marker and get the world accustomed to the idea that the Golan is Israeli and that it is futile for people to think of it in any other context," said Dr. Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. It also signals to the international community that it must take Israel's position into account in negotiating a solution to the Syrian civil war, said Eyal Zisser, a political science professor at Tel Aviv University. "Now there's a sense that there might be a settlement imposed by Russia and the Americans, and it's important for Netanyahu to remind everyone that we are there, and they should be taking our interests into consideration."