1.    In 1968, Iran and Israel co-founded the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company Ltd. (EAPC) which, as a joint venture, built and operated this multi-billion dollar Suez Canal by-pass; since interruption of their diplomatic relations, Israel is understood to manage Iran's share on a fiduciary basis, while an opportunity for settling related investments is still awaited. One such opportunity may consist of a follow-up joint venture of a transit pipeline from Rasht to Haifa through Northern Iraq. Meanwhile, a.o., Israel's Carmel Chemicals Group has helped to maintain goodwill through authorized trades with Iran.

2.    The legitimate interests of the Jordan River Basin's riparian states in appropriate usages and a fair sharing of the basin's water resources have yet to be mutually recognized and accommodated through negotiations, as indicated by the applicable standards of international law and customs, such as the Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers. The normalization of Syria's Golan Heights may be deblocked by way of corresponding negotiations, perhaps involving the mutually agreed establishment of a permanently neutralized zone over part of that area - as illustrated by the establishment in 1815 of the neutralized zone of Haute Savoie and, for humanitarian purposes, by the inclusion of neutralized zones in the Fourth Geneva Convention.

3.    As pointed out by Akiva Eldar from Ha’aretz and Shraga Elam, current questions on prisoner exchanges were addressed on previous occasions, e.g. in the Jerusalem Post of Feb.8, 2004 by Nachman Shai, Senior VP and Director General, United Jewish Communities (UJC) Israel and former Israeli Army spokesperson  (.../voicesofreason.htm):
   “A new question emerges from the agreement on the prisoners and the soldiers' bodies: Isn't it time to conduct comprehensive negotiations with Hizbullah? ... We don't have to legitimize terrorism, but we must find ways to neutralize it. Our primary objective is to create a new atmosphere conducive to peace in the Middle East ... we ought to talk to Hizbullah. We must exploit every possibility to reach a compromise with them …“

4.    In the People's Daily Online of July 21, 2006, the China Institute of International Studies' Dong Manyuan offered this analysis:
    "Although the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have asked the Israeli government for the "return" of the Shaba farm, they did not resort to the use of force to impose pressure on Israel. In launching strikes against Israel, the Hezbollah, while hoisting the slogan of "resistance to occupation", has four real intensions in the pursuit of its political objectives and value norms: ..."

5.    Territorially, both the contested Shaba farms and the Southern tip of Lebanon seem to avail themselves for the establishment of balanced, mutually securizing and agreeable neutralized zones - particularly if extended to space so as to keep airplanes and rockets from crossing internationally recognized borders. And with both the Israeli and the Lebanese governments manifestly representing and embracing all factions of their respective societies, fulfilling art.15 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, by way of self-demilitarization of these neutralized zones by the involved governments, should not be beyond either their wisdom, strength or reach, with reliable confirmation procedures, surveillance and other good offices seen to be available from neutral foreign parties.
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(1)    see Memorandum of 23/7/06 on the Neutralized Zones (Fourth Geneva Convention; .../neutralzone.htm)