Embattled Syrian ruler Bashar Assad wanted to restart peace negotiations with Israel in 2012, when it appeared his grip on power was weakening, but was rebuffed by Jerusalem, according to a report in the London Review of Books.
The lengthy report, which was authored by famed Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, cites Russian government sources as saying that the Kremlin had relayed an offer from Assad to the Israelis regarding a return to talks over the future of the Golan Heights.
The overtures from Damascus were part and parcel of an attempt by the Assad regime to gain vital intelligence assistance from the West in his quest to put down an insurgency led by radical Islamist groups including Islamic State and the al-Qaida-affiliated outfit Nusra Front.
Read more at the Jerusalem Post