In an apparent response to accusation from opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement that the Syrians are the ones insisting on releasing the news of the ongoing negotiations, not Israel.

Netanyahu on Thursday accused Olmert of carefully timing his announcement regarding ongoing talks with the Syrians to coincide with the police investigation against him, which appears to be gaining momentum, in the hope of diverting national attention away from Olmert’s alleged criminal activities.

Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office are now insisting that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert preferred to delay revealing the ongoing talks until the next round, but it was the Syrian insistence that prompted the announcement this week.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)