Peace or PR? Olmert pressed on Syria talks

By Dan Williams - Analysis

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israelis have a term for a prime minister they think should be spared censure so he can pursue peacemaking -- "etrog", a variety of lemon grown with care to avoid bruising.

Whether the country believes Ehud Olmert falls into this category could determine whether Israeli talks with Syria have a chance of bearing any fruit over the next few months.

Olmert's decision to go public with Israeli-Syrian rapprochement efforts is regarded by many Israelis as a crude gambit to distract attention from a criminal investigation that could force him from office.

The Israeli leader is due to undergo a second police interrogation on Friday and the Turkish-mediated Syria talks had to vie for newspaper space with disclosures about Olmert and his ties to an American financier at the heart of a bribery case.

The top two dailies carried identical headlines -- "Probe and Peace" -- summing up the sense that the stories are linked.

There is little doubt about the seriousness of Olmert's desire for a diplomatic breakthrough, or that the Syrian option he has explored for many months could prove more feasible for Israel than its contacts with the factionalized Palestinians.

Yet Damascus is firm on its demand for a return of the Golan Heights which Israel captured in a 1967 war, and then annexed and settled with popular domestic backing. For Olmert to cede the strategic plateau, he would have to win majority approval in Israel's fractious parliament and, possibly, a referendum.

Neither is likely if the prime minister, already weakened by the costly 2006 Lebanon war, continues to be dogged by legal problems. Olmert has denied wrongdoing, but he has also vowed to resign if indicted -- itself no recipe for stability.