Dennis Ross, the former US envoy and senior negotiator to the Middle East warns of a risk of war with Syria this summer. The lack of dialogue between Syria and Israel only increases chances of war he said .

Ross also harshly criticized the Bush Administration which he said is "" tough on rhetoric and soft practically." Because of this Syria has nothing to lose by continuing with its current behavior and believes it has nothing to gain by changing it he said.

Ross revealed his thoughts in an exclusive telephone interview to Y.net. Since the conclusion of the Second Lebanon War last summer, Syria has rearmed Syria "to the teeth,"said Ross adding that it should have to pay a price, and the United States and Europe should squeeze the Syrian policy and adopt a stick before carrot attitude when dealing with Damascus.The recent Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip says Ross is also a cause for concern he says adding that he does not identify with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's view that a new opportunity has been created and but rather a new sense of urgency. Ross said the competition between Fatah and Hamas is extremely important. "If Hamas takes over then the Israeli Palestinian conflict becomes a religious conflict, Israel has a huge stake in the nature of this conflict," he said. Fatah rhetoric that it is going to crackdown on Hamas and restore law and order, must be put into practice he said. Ïf the security situation does not change, all the fine words will be for nothing, he warns. There has to be coordination between Israel and Fatah, but Fatah has to deliver,he said.

.infolive