This writer must be getting old. The energy is fast dissipating. My hair is fading from red to gray. I can barely chew a peach. And the news is all old. I found the right perspective at the peak of my intellectual powers, and nothing has changed other than my desire to search for any new truth that may still be out there.

Israel ended its latest mini-war in Gaza, and the war of attrition continues. And out of Gaza's rubble, great news. Syria wants peace.

PM Ehud Olmert said that the Israeli offensive in Gaza may help reaching an accord with Syria. ''The negotiations with Syria will lead to an accord in the end,'' he said. (Guysen.International.News)

Meir Shetreet: Lease Golan for 25 years and then buy it from Syria

"And with regard to the Golan - I am for real peace. There will be Syrian sovereignty in the Golan. Real peace means that they lease the Golan to us for 25 years and after 25 years we will see that there is peace - we will purchase the Golan from them. The Americans purchased Alaska. The area of the Golan is half of one percent of the area of Syria." Minister Meir Shetreet (Kadima) at meeting sponsored by the Council for Peace and Security on 22 January 2009 as reported in a summary written by Uri Reychav

Now maybe I can ask: what connection does Gaza have with peace on the Golan? What is Olmert mumbling about? Worse, Pres. B. Assad of Syria responded within two days of his mumbles, telling a Lebanese newspaper that he is ready to negotiate peace, "even with Netanyahu." Meaning, more great news for Israel in the next government. And as for Israel; it's prepared to buy the Golan from Syria.

The old writer's memory kicks in and he's back to the mid-90s when he earned most of his income writing for trade magazines. I was glancing through the real estate pages of the Hebrew newspaper, Globes, when I saw a small item about a little deed Israel owns. It seems that the French Rothschild family, in the late nineteenth century, purchased 20,000 acres in the Golan Heights and in nearby Syria. The deed was later transferred to the real estate arm of Israel, the Jewish National Fund.

I immediately saw the historic diplomatic significance of the item and called my PR source at the JNF. Back then I wrote for a few of the world's biggest water industry journals and the JNF were very pleased with my prominent articles. So I took the liberty of asking my source to photocopy this Syrian land deed for my next story. She promised to call me back and when she did, it was with a request to meet with the spokesman for the JNF.

One can only imagine the extravagant office the head of an agency collecting hundreds of millions of dollars annually must be; the Georgian furniture, tasteful 18th century Flemish art, rare Middle Eastern carpets. Well, forget it, this was Israel. The only art were hoaky JNF redeem the land posters and the furniture was an old desk and the same chairs as in the reception area. The impression of the office has withstood the ravages of the writer's memory.

As did what the spokesman told me. "We can't give you a photocopy of the deed. The government sequestered it. And, off the record, I'm asking you not to remind your readers about the matter."

"Is that your idea?" I asked.

"Between us, no. My superiors consider this a very sensitive subject."

"Then you realize that the JNF owns proof that Israel owns a good chunk of Syria and we could negotiate with the Syrians with a pat hand?"

"Owned. The proof was removed. And don't ask me the ways of diplomacy. This is the one JNF issue that we are banned from publicizing."

The old writer has had it trying to convince the under-thinking public that a little 4200 member think tank in New York called the Council On Foreign Relations (CFR) is determining the future or lack thereof of Israel. And he is under-exuberant about the tragically farcical state of Jewish political writing, full of complaints and a paucity of deep analysis. I will add CFR to the following characters of this tragic farce. You can google, CFR membership list, yourself and see if the old man was always right:

Now here is something to tickle the dying sense of humor of any old bard. It's so much harder to get a good laugh these days. The dictator of Libya, Muamar Qaddafi, was ordered to assume credit for a NY Times Op-Ed. Within, the real authors note that there "definitely" was a Holocaust, so the Jews have an equal claim to Israel as the Arabs. Qaddafi's thoughts alright!

The old grey matter kicks in again. In the late 80s sometime, you look it up, I'm too overworked, Yasir Arafat's plane crashed in Libya, and Qaddafi allowed the US Air Force to go looking for him. I told you. Don't ask why. You think I know everything? Or even anything? They just did, okay?

The Americans rescued Arafat alive and he was transferred to a military hospital where he, "underwent extensive neurological care." Afterward he was unleashed on the world. I told you, I'm not making this up. It really happened.

Disappointment haunted all his dreams. The writer spent years researching his book, Save Israel, which proved that the top man on the Middle Eastern diplomatic food chain is King Juan Carlos of Spain, the Vatican's point man. Oh forget it. It takes too much time to explain. Sure you can eat anything you want, but how come Juan Carlos visited Qaddafi at the same time as the op-ed appeared. You think that was a coincidence, you moron?

The movement to liberate Jonathan Pollard was as hilarious as ever this month. They actually petitioned outgoing Pres. Bush to pardon him. They claimed to have clogged the White House switchboard. When it was over, the ancient scribe received this note circulating in the free Pollard world.

Whoopee. The closest any doddering old man longs for, reluctant vindication. In a last act of defiance before his motor conks out, the cryptic scribe wrote each of the e-mails requesting that I phone the White House for Jonathan; "PM Peres abused Pollard's data and created Iran Contra which almost destroyed the Bush dynasty, and you expect him to even consider pardoning him. Go waste someone else's time."

Crank to the past. Six summers ago, a group of Pollard supporters, confused and some, disgusted, with the leadership of his "wife" gave me 3000 shekels to find out why Pollard is still sitting in prison. I had a head start and the energy to run with it. A friend, who won't allow me to name him, had written a book about the Bush family. A sizable chunk was about Pollard. He also gave me people to call. Fast off the marker, within a month I had the real story of Jonathan Pollard. It became a chapter of my book 'Shabtai Tzvi, Labor Zionism And The Holocaust'. You go buy it at lulu.com. No more freebies from me. Just know that Pollard is now quoting me word for word. And tell your friends too. I'm worn out.