Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Wednesday, that Israel and Syria have initiated peace talks, the first time these bitter enemies have come to the negotiating table in over 8 years. At the heart of the negotiations is the return of the Golan Heights, the strategic mountain area overlooking the Sea of Galilee captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed by Israel 14 years later by extending Israeli civil law to all of its residents, most of them Arab Druze. While the newly announced peace talks face daunting odds, a breakthrough could fundamentally change the face of the Middle East. 052208.