US President Barak Obama seems genuinely interested in acting as mediator between Israel and Syria in the hope of opening a diplomatic channel between the two countries The New Yorker reports.

According to the report filed by Seymour Hersh, Obama views recent peace overtures by Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad as an opportunity to wield the authority of the White House towards a deal between Jerusalem and Damascus.

Following Israel’s Operation Cast Lead counter-terrorism offensive against Hamas in Gaza, the Obama administration feared all prospects of peace were lost but it appears Israel’s inability to “unseat Hamas” in Gaza left Assad a legitimate channel to reach out to Israel towards opening talks with the incoming administration.

“The consensus, as an ambassador now serving in Tel Aviv put it, was that the two sides had been ‘a lot closer than you might think'” The New Yorker reports.

The Americans view a peace agreement between Jerusalem and Damascus as one that would have regional implications towards increased stability. While the report mentions the recent visit to Damascus by Senator John Kerry and the yearning of Damascus to gain acceptability and legitimacy in the eyes of the Americans, it does not detail ongoing Syrian efforts to change balance of power realities in the region by acquiring advanced Russian-built MiG fighters and Assad’s ongoing ties and support of Hizbullah and the terrorist axis of evil, Tehran.

Seeking to portray the Syrian leader as a moderate, Hersh mention’s his training as an ophthalmologist in London, adding he was thrust into the leadership position, expecting his older brother Basil to succeed their father, who died in 2000, but Basil died in an accident in 1994, leaving him the rule over the nation.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)