Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace by Frederic Hof

This important and eye-opening book is an insider’s account of secret negotiations to broker a Syria-Israel peace deal—negotiations that came tantalizingly close to success. Ambassador Frederic Hof, who spearheaded the US-mediated discussions in 2009-11, takes readers behind the scenes in Washington, Damascus, and Jerusalem, where President Assad and Prime Minister Netanyahu inched toward a deal to return Israeli-occupied areas of the Golan Heights in exchange for Syria severing military ties with Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Hof’s candid assessments, refreshing self-criticism, compelling prose, and rich historical detail make this a masterful memoir of an unknown chapter in American diplomacy.

Year: 2022

Hardcover

Read the review featured in June/July 2022 edition of the Washington Report magazine here: https://www.wrmea.org/middle-east-books-and-more/reaching-for-the-heights-the-inside-story-of-a-secret-attempt-to-reach-a-syrian-israeli-peace.html