They have been trading land won with the blood of their people for promises of peace for generations.
What are you talking about? Who trades what land?
Well, for one example, giving the Sinai back. That was a HUGE leap of Faith in their fellow man. Who happened to be muslims who had recently waged war against them in an attempt to destroy them.
It was calculation. Hadn´t Israel made peace with Egypt, Syria would probably not have considered for a second to cancel its offensive, UN or not. This army, equipped with new Soviet arms, would have undoubtedly decided the war, if Israel would have been busy in Egypt, as well. Ultimately, Assad canceled the offensive with the UN intervening to protect Israel and finally Egypt making peace with Israel. And they didn´t give back Syrian lands to Syria, you know?