Jerusalem - Outside the Israeli parliament building last night about 10,000 Israelis, many of them ferried in from the Golan Heights, shouted slogans underlining their determination to oppose an Israeli peace deal with Syria, if the price is withdrawal from the Heights, writes David Horovitz.
Inside, Mr Ariel Sharon, leader of the main Likud opposition party, accused the government of capitulating to the Syrians, and seeking to "uproot" the Jewish people by contemplating a Golan-for-peace bargain.
The furious anti-government sentiment inside and outside the Knesset underlined the mammoth task that now faces the Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, who begins peace talks with Syria's Foreign Minister, Mr Faruq al-Shara, in Washington tomorrow.
Parliament voted 47 to 31 last night to back Mr Barak's summit talks with Syria this week in Washington, in the first test of the Israeli leader's drive for a historic peace deal with Damascus.