Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday after talks with U.S. President Barack Obama that Israel was ready to immediately open peace talks with Syria without preconditions, Reuters reported.
Netanyahu, who took office seven weeks ago, had appeared cool to the idea of reopening stalled talks with Damascus.
He has repeatedly voiced opposition to pulling out of the Golan Heights, territory Israel captured in a 1967 war which Syria wants returned as part of any peace deal.
"There was agreement that we must immediately launch peace talks," Netanyahu told reporters at Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv after talks in Washington on Monday with Obama.
"I said I was ready to immediately open peace talks with the Palestinians, by the way, with the Syrians as well, of course, without preconditions," Netanyahu said. "But I made it clear that any peace settlement there must find a solution to Israel's security needs."
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