A Would-be Happy Link With Syria

摘要

Perched between Israel, their occupier for more than four decades, and Syria, perhaps soon to govern them again, the 20,000 Druze of the Golan naturally seek out interests that are common to their two powerful patrons as a way of improving their own precarious situation. By the by, they even hope to serve as a peace-building bridge between the two. Some optimists see the future Golan as a sort of Hong Kong, continuing to enjoy the perks of Israel's dynamic economy and open society, while coming back under the sovereignty of a stricter, less developed Syria. Whoever becomes prime minister of Israel after its recent general election will be likely to open a diplomatic "track" to Syria. Barack Obama has also sounded keen.