Sharon Cool on Assad Peace Offer

By Leslie Susser
Published on January 8, 2004

Once upon a time, a Syrian president calling for peace talks would have been met by Israeli leaders rolling out the red carpet.

But Bashar Assad's recent overtures toward Israel, first made in an interview with The New York Times, have failed to excite Israeli decision-makers.

The chief of Israel's military intelligence branch, Maj. Gen. Aharon Farkash Ze'evi, says Assad is serious and should be put to the test, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon doubts the Syrian leader's sincerity and questions whether giving up the strategic Golan Heights in return for peace with Syria is as much in Israel's interest as it once was.

Sorry for the Sin

By Carin Davis
Published on October 2, 2003

Yom Kippur's on deck, boys -- so you better bust out your little black book. No, not the machzor. Your other little black book -- the one where you keep all your digits.

Pull out your PalmPilot, run through your phone sheet, sift through the scribbled notes on the back of crumpled coasters. It's time to scrounge up all your numbers and call all your babes.

Yom Kippur is a booty-free zone, so you're not calling to schedule a mid-Mincha make-out session. You're calling to apologize.