Israel, Mideast Foes in Historic Handshake at Vatican

Jeffrey Heller, Reuters:

Israel's president said he shook hands with the leaders of Syria and Iran at a Vatican funeral Friday when in his death Pope John Paul brought together Middle East foes as no man alive ever had. READ MORE

Gathered with hundreds of international dignitaries, Israel's Moshe Katsav had historic chance encounters with President Bashar Assad of Syria, a country formally at war with the Jewish state, and President Mohammad Khatami of Iran.

A senior Israeli government official said it was too early to say whether the contacts, believed to be the first time an Israeli president had shaken hands with Syrian and Iranian leaders, would translate into future diplomacy.

There was no immediate comment from Iran or Syria on the encounters, first reported by Israel Radio. Nor was it clear whether they were captured on film or videotape.

"The Syrian president sat in the chair behind me ... we exchanged smiles and shook hands," Katsav, who holds a largely ceremonial post as head of state, was quoted as telling the Web site of Israel's Maariv newspaper.

The Iranian-born Katsav also said he spoke at the Vatican funeral in his native Farsi with Khatami about their common city of birth. Iran officially seeks Israel's destruction.

"The president of Iran extended his hand to me, I shook it and told him in Farsi 'may peace be upon you'," Katsav told the Web site.

He said he later shook Assad's hand a second time during the funeral, apparently when guests were urged to demonstrate a gesture of goodwill toward those around them.

"This time it was the Syrian president who held out his hand to me," Katsav was quoted as saying.

'HISTORIC ENCOUNTER'

"Historic encounter in Rome," Israel's largest-circulation daily Yedioth Ahronoth headlined in its Web site report on the meeting.

The Israeli and Syrian delegations had been seated next to each other. Their negotiators last held peace talks in 2000 which foundered over the future of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war.

Syria has called repeatedly for the talks to resume. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said Syrian forces must first pull out of Lebanon and stop supporting Lebanese guerrillas and Palestinian militants before Israel would consider negotiations.

Katsav has tried before to carve out a role in restarting Israeli-Syrian contacts. In January 2004, he invited Assad to Jerusalem for talks, an offer Damascus dismissed as a propaganda stunt.

Israel has also accused Tehran of supporting anti-Israel militants and has been a fierce critic of Iran's nuclear program.

"It's hard to tell the significance of a handshake," the Israeli official said. "The question is whether there is going to be a change in these countries' policy, which is to destroy the Jewish state."