ABSTRACT
Historically, Israel and the Arab states have understood peace differently. For Israel peace is the goal, whereas for the Arab states peace is a means toward at least two ends: Israeli withdrawal from the territories it captured in 1967, and improved relations with the United States, expressed in the form of long-term aid from Washington. One school of thought in Israel maintains that democracies can more easily resolve conflicts peacefully, whereas non-democracies may have to resort to violence in conflict resolution. It follows, according to this approach, that Israel should wait for the emergence of democratic regimes in Syria and in other Arab states before making peace. Although in 1991 there were increasing calls in Syria for a transition to democracy, and President Hafez al-Assad dwelt on the subject at length in a speech he delivered in March 1992, no such transition is foreseeable any time soon.
