COMPLETE 2007 50TH ANNIVERSARY TEXT OF EU TREATY OF ROME. (REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE). SINCE THIS WILL BE THE WORLD LEADER AT A COMING TIME IN HISTORY.
Text of EU's 50th anniversary Berlin Declaration
Published on : Sun, 25 Mar 2007 21:14 By : Agencies
BERLIN (AFX) - Following is the full text of declaration adopted by EU leaders on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome:
DECLARATION ON THE OCCASION OF THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGNATURE OF THE TREATY OF ROME
For centuries Europe has been an idea, holding out hope of peace and understanding. That hope has been fulfilled.European unification has made peace and prosperity possible. It has brought about a sense of community and overcome differences.Each Member State has helped to unite Europe and to strengthen democracy and the rule of law.Thanks to the yearning for freedom of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe the unnatural division of Europe is now consigned to the past. European integration shows that we have learnt the painful lessons of a history marked by bloody conflict.
Today we live together as was never possible before. We, the citizens of the European Union, have united for the better.
1.(I)
In the European Union, we are turning our common ideals into reality: for us, the individual is paramount. His dignity is inviolable. His rights are inalienable. Women and men enjoy equal rights.
We are striving for peace and freedom, for democracy and the rule of law, for mutual respect and shared responsibility, for prosperity and security, for tolerance and participation, for justice and solidarity.We have a unique way of living and working together in the European Union. This is expressed through the democratic interaction of the Member States and the European institutions.
The European Union is founded on equal rights and mutually supportive cooperation. This enables us to strike a fair balance between Member States' interests.We preserve in the European Union the identities and diverse traditions of its Member States. We are enriched by open borders and a lively variety of languages, cultures and regions.
There are many goals which we cannot achieve on our own, but only in concert. Tasks are shared between the European Union, the Member States and their regions and local authorities.
2 (II).
We are facing major challenges which do not stop at national borders. The European Union is our response to these challenges.Only together can we continue to preserve our ideal of European society in future for the good of all European Union citizens. This European model combines economic success and social responsibility.The common market and the euro make us strong.
We can thus shape the increasing interdependence of the global economy and ever-growing competition on international markets according to our values.Europe's wealth lies in the knowledge and ability of its people; that is the key to growth, employment and social cohesion. We will fight terrorism, organized crime and illegal immigration together.We stand up for liberties and civil rights also in the struggle against those who oppose them. Racism and xenophobia must never again be given any rein.We are committed to the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the world and to ensuring that people do not become victims of war, terrorism and violence.The European Union wants to promote freedom and development in the world. We want to drive back poverty, hunger and disease. We want to continue to take a leading role in that fight.We intend jointly to lead the way in energy policy and climate protection and make our contribution to averting the global threat of climate change.
3(III).
The European Union will continue to thrive both on openness and on the will of its Member States to consolidate the Union's internal development.The European Union will continue to promote democracy, stability and prosperity beyond its borders. With European unification a dream of earlier generations has become a reality.Our history reminds us that we must protect this for the good of future generations. For that reason we must always renew the political shape of Europe in keeping with the times.That is why today, 50 years after the signing of the Treaties of Rome, we are united in our aim of placing the European Union on a renewed common basis before the European Parliament elections in 2009. For we know, Europe is our common future. newsdesk@afxnews.com - afp/hjp
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
ARABS EXTEND LAND FOR PEACE OFFER
Arab leaders agree on appeal for Israel By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press Writer MAR 29,07
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Arab leaders at their summit Thursday agreed on a call for Israel to accept their land-for-peace offer and open direct negotiations with the Arabs. Unlike past summits that at times saw overt feuds break out, the gathering of Arab kings, emirs and presidents showed unusual public unity as it revived the peace offer, which they first made in 2002 only to meet rejection from Israel. But still unknown is how the Arabs will persuade Israel to accept the initiative, which the United States and Europe hope can help build momentum for a resumption of the long-stalled peace process. Israel has said it could accept the offer with some changes, but the Arab leaders refused the amend it.
Instead, they created working groups that will seek to drum up support for the deal from the U.S., U.N. and Europe. U.S. allies Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan hope the smaller groups will be able to be more flexible in promoting the offer to win acceptance, despite the summit's rejection of changes.
The Palestinian people is sincere in extending its hand of peace to the Israeli people, and I call on that people and its leaders to share that dream with us," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the summit in a speech Thursday.He said Saudi Arabia should head the working groups, which should have freedom to move according to the circumstances to achieve our national goals.The summit was to call on the government of Israeli and the Israelis at large to accept the Arab peace initiative and seize the available opportunity to resume direct and serious negotiations on all tracks, according to a draft resolution expected to approved by the Arab leaders before the close the two-day summit later Thursday.The initiative offers Israel recognition and permanent peace with all Arab countries in return for Israeli withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war. It also calls for setting up a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees forced out of lands in what is now Israel.
Israel rejects a full withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and it strongly opposes the influx of large numbers of Palestinian refugees into the Jewish state. It seeks changes to water down the provisions on refugees in particular.The United States' Arab allies painted the peace offer as key to achieving progress at a time of mounting crises across the Mideast, including the bloodshed in Iraq. The Arab summit was to call on Iraq's Shiite-led government to change its constitution and military to give a greater role to Sunni Arabs.The Arab world is at a crossroads, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said. It is confronting crises and dangerous challenges, from the stagnation of the peace process, the situation in Iraq, Lebanon's political crisis and the escalating international standoff with Iran.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon both toured the region ahead of the summit, trying to build momentum for the peace process and the Arab initiative. Ban spoke Wednesday at the summit, calling the initiative one of the pillars of the peace process and urging Israel to take a fresh look at it.Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa rejected amending the peace offer, saying, They tell us to amend it, but we tell them to accept it first, then we can sit down at the negotiating table. But he said the Arabs must do more to convince the Israelis on the offer.Associated Press writers Salah Nasrawi and Lee Keath contributed to this report.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Arab leaders at their summit Thursday agreed on a call for Israel to accept their land-for-peace offer and open direct negotiations with the Arabs. Unlike past summits that at times saw overt feuds break out, the gathering of Arab kings, emirs and presidents showed unusual public unity as it revived the peace offer, which they first made in 2002 only to meet rejection from Israel. But still unknown is how the Arabs will persuade Israel to accept the initiative, which the United States and Europe hope can help build momentum for a resumption of the long-stalled peace process. Israel has said it could accept the offer with some changes, but the Arab leaders refused the amend it.
Instead, they created working groups that will seek to drum up support for the deal from the U.S., U.N. and Europe. U.S. allies Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan hope the smaller groups will be able to be more flexible in promoting the offer to win acceptance, despite the summit's rejection of changes.
The Palestinian people is sincere in extending its hand of peace to the Israeli people, and I call on that people and its leaders to share that dream with us," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the summit in a speech Thursday.He said Saudi Arabia should head the working groups, which should have freedom to move according to the circumstances to achieve our national goals.The summit was to call on the government of Israeli and the Israelis at large to accept the Arab peace initiative and seize the available opportunity to resume direct and serious negotiations on all tracks, according to a draft resolution expected to approved by the Arab leaders before the close the two-day summit later Thursday.The initiative offers Israel recognition and permanent peace with all Arab countries in return for Israeli withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Middle East war. It also calls for setting up a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital and a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees forced out of lands in what is now Israel.
Israel rejects a full withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and it strongly opposes the influx of large numbers of Palestinian refugees into the Jewish state. It seeks changes to water down the provisions on refugees in particular.The United States' Arab allies painted the peace offer as key to achieving progress at a time of mounting crises across the Mideast, including the bloodshed in Iraq. The Arab summit was to call on Iraq's Shiite-led government to change its constitution and military to give a greater role to Sunni Arabs.The Arab world is at a crossroads, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said. It is confronting crises and dangerous challenges, from the stagnation of the peace process, the situation in Iraq, Lebanon's political crisis and the escalating international standoff with Iran.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon both toured the region ahead of the summit, trying to build momentum for the peace process and the Arab initiative. Ban spoke Wednesday at the summit, calling the initiative one of the pillars of the peace process and urging Israel to take a fresh look at it.Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa rejected amending the peace offer, saying, They tell us to amend it, but we tell them to accept it first, then we can sit down at the negotiating table. But he said the Arabs must do more to convince the Israelis on the offer.Associated Press writers Salah Nasrawi and Lee Keath contributed to this report.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
RICE REMARKS ON PEACE PROCESS
Remarks After Meetings With Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas
Secretary Condoleezza Rice Jerusalem March 27, 2007
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2007/mar/82237.htm
SECRETARY RICE: Good morning. During this trip, I have had intensive discussions with Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas about how to move forward. There is a growing consensus behind President Bush's vision of the State of Israel and the new State of Palestine living side by side in peace and security, as well as an urgent desire to achieve it. The violent extremism we see in the Middle East poses a grave threat to all who seek peace. President Abbas truly desires to be a partner for peace. Prime Minister Sharon recognized this at Aqaba, and Prime Minister Olmert recognizes it now. President Abbas told his people that he could end the occupation by ending violence, that he could lead them to statehood by leading them to reform, and they elected him by a large majority.
The work of peace is made more complex now by the nature of the newly formed National Unity Government. The Quartet's position is clear. A path of cooperation with the new Palestinian government exists, but it is blocked by Hamas's continued unwillingness to commit itself, by word and deed, to the Quartet principles - renouncing violence, recognizing Israel's right to exist, and adhering to previous agreements and obligations. A Palestinian Authority that accepts those principles
could contribute significantly to the fulfillment of their people's longing for a better life and a state of their own - steps that must begin with abandoning terrorism and securing the release of Corporal Shalit. There is, nonetheless, a path that we can and should pursue now. We will join with responsible leaders like President Abbas who are eager to make progress towards peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state. So Prime Minister Olmert, President Abbas, and I have met for discussions and agreed on new actions to accelerate that progress.
President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert have agreed that they plan to meet together biweekly. This very positive development builds on their previous meetings and will benefit both Israelis and Palestinians. The United States has a unique relationship with each party, and we will do our part to support their engagement. So I will meet with the Prime Minister and the President periodically - sometimes separately, sometimes together - in whatever form will be most effective to accelerate progress. The Israelis and Palestinians are taking the initial step on the path to peace, and the American role will include helping them to overcome obstacles, develop new ideas, and rally international support for their efforts. The meetings between the Israelis and Palestinians will focus on two sets of issues. First, they will discuss immediate concerns, like movement and access, management of the passages, and preventing arms smuggling and rocket fire by terrorists in Gaza. On issues like these, the United States is already deeply involved in helping them. On this trip, however, it became clear to all of us that establishing clear benchmarks to measure progress will help us move forward. So this is one immediate task that the parties will undertake with the assistance of General Keith Dayton.
In their discussions together, the parties will also begin to discuss the development of a political horizon, consistent with the establishment of a Palestinian state in accordance with the Roadmap. As I've noted before, we are not yet at final status negotiations. These are initial discussions to build confidence between the parties. Palestinians must know that their state will be viable. Israelis must know that a future state of Palestine will be a source of security, not a threat to it. Both sides must have confidence that economic and trade relations between them will promote the welfare of their populations. The efforts in which they engage will help to build confidence and therefore ease the path to negotiations to establish two states living side by side in peace and security. I will talk to each party in parallel as well to help structure a common approach to discussions of a political horizon - one that will lead us to more concrete and specific steps. I will also ask the two sides to identify what the international community can help them to do -- can do to help them succeed - not after the hard work is done and the ink is dry on an agreement, but right now. Regional states and members of the international community should participate actively in diplomacy to advance the achievement of peace. Applause at the end of the road will be welcome, but help now in moving down that road is far more important. One area is helping the Palestinians build their economy through generous assistance delivered in a manner to assure its proper application. New thinking and new action will also be necessary on the part of Israel's neighbors. Saudi Crown Prince - now King - Abdallah's initiative of 2002, later endorsed by the Arab League, was a welcome example of such new thinking. Now, at this critical moment, we look for our friends and partners of long-standing to build on this important initiative.
Just as Israelis and Palestinians must clarify a political horizon together, the Arab states must clarify a political horizon for Israel. These paths do not substitute for one another; they reinforce one another.
The Arab states should begin reaching out to Israel - to reassure Israel that its place in the region will be more, not less secure, by an end to the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state; to show Israel that they accept its place in the Middle East; and to demonstrate that the peace they seek is greater than just the absence of war. Such bold outreach can turn the Arab League's words into the
basis of active diplomacy, and it can hasten the day when a state called Palestine will take its rightful place in the international community. Through tasks like these, all those nations that seek a negotiated solution can help make it possible - and help make it possible sooner. We all need to tackle the work of peace with urgency. It is a complex undertaking, and it will take time and effort. But President Bush and I are committed to this challenge. As the President said last Friday, Peace in the Middle East is a top priority for this administration. We want to see the creation of a Palestinian state. We want to see lasting security for Israel. And we will help the parties prepare for successful negotiations that can end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, once and for all.
Thank you very much.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you're interested in a discussion of the political horizon, but hasn't it become clear in the last 24 hours that the Israeli Prime Minister and many other Israelis simply don't feel the time is right in this environment to begin talking about these key issues related to the final agreements necessary to open the way for a two-state solution?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, Paul, we're finally opening doors here, not closing them, and that's the spirit in which I found my discussions with both the Israelis and the Palestinians. There's hard work to do. It's been a long time since Palestinians and Israelis really talked about their future in the way that they will. These are serious people. When we're going to begin the dialogue and when they have that dialogue, I'm quite sure that it's going to move ahead and they are going to address more and more, and I'm going to be here to help them. But they need to build some confidence that, in fact, there is going to be a viable Palestinian state on the part of the Palestinians. There have been some signs over the last few years that, of course, that is possible. I would cite, for instance, the Herzliya speech of Prime Minister Sharon and the withdrawal from the Gaza. But there are still questions in the minds of Palestinians about whether or not, in fact, their state will be viable. There are questions in the minds of the Israelis given the continued terrorism that they face that a Palestinian state can be constructed and built, and Israel can be more secure not less secure. They really do need to talk about this future and this horizon.
But again, I'm delighted that they are going to talk and they're going to talk often. And when people talk often and they're serious people, as the Prime Minister is and President Abbas is, they will have a meaningful discussion about their future. And again, they've opened doors, not closed them.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you defined success for this trip as getting both sides to agree to parallel talks on a common set of issues, including some big ones like what might be defined as a security concept on both sides. Does this agreement do that? Will they really be talking about things of that scope?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I definitely think they will talk about a security concept. If you think about the importance of the security concept, it really is to address the question that I just raised on both sides. When you have a viable Palestinian state, what will be its character, what will be the contents of it; what then in the context of an Israel that has withdrawn then will be the security arrangements, the
security context that allows Palestinians to live viably and Israelis to live in security?
We will have -- I will employ many ways to do this. I expect to talk to them about tools. I expect to talk to them about principles. I expect to talk to them about what the international community can do to support. But again, we need to let them start this discussion, Anne, and we have agreed that there needs to be a common approach and I will help them get to that common approach. So yes, I think we've achieved what we set out to achieve. I will say that I achieved -- they achieved something that I frankly didn't expect to achieve, which is the very regularized meetings between the two of them in which they will talk not just about their specific and more day-to-day issues but also about a political horizon. As you will remember, when I came here I talked a lot about doing this in parallel and doing it with each of them bilaterally, but I think that perhaps the most important thing is that they've agreed to talk together. Now, occasionally I'll show up and I'll talk with them, but nothing can substitute for the importance of the parties sitting down together regularly talking about the issues before them.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, what is the point of talking about the core issues of a political horizon when the Palestinian side cannot deliver the basic issues like stopping terror, like releasing Corporal Shalit? And are there any benchmarks or deadlines in the sets of meetings that you set today between the Prime Minister and the President of the Palestinian Authority?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, it is an important point that while they talk about their future and the political horizon, it is important not to lose sight of what's going on on the ground. And that is why in this trip we also decided that General Dayton should work with each side to develop benchmarks. Now, we need benchmarks on the issue of the ceasefire; that is, stopping the Qassams and the elements of the ceasefire. We also need benchmarks on movement and access. And when I was here and negotiated the movement and access agreement, I think that there were expectations about what that might do for the livelihood of the Palestinian people, for the vitality and viability of the Palestinian economy. And I have concerns that the movement and access agreement, even though it's moving forward, is not having the overall effect on the lives of the Palestinian people that it might. And I'm concerned that the ceasefire is not having the effect on the security of the Israelis that it ought to.
And so I fully expect that when the parties meet bilaterally they're going to talk a lot about how to make life on the ground better for Palestinians and Israelis. I think benchmarks that General Dayton can develop with them and that we can all observe and monitor will help both parties to achieve what they need to on the ground. Because you're absolutely right; as things get better on the ground, so too will the confidence that moving forward toward establishment of the Palestinian state is going to work.
QUESTION: I'm Zajuan from Al-Jazeera again and I have two questions, please. My first one is what was real reason of this delaying of this conference? Is it really -- did you really have any problems with Prime Minister.
SECRETARY RICE: Let me just answer for you. I decided to delay this conference yesterday morning because, quite frankly, I'm better in the morning than I am at 9 o'clock at night. And people who know me know that I go to bed at 9:30. I didn't last night, but I go to bed at 9:30; and frankly, I thought that it would be better to do it this morning. I'm fresher, you're fresher, and we did do some more work last night. But I think we could have tried to do that work earlier, but I decided to delay this press conference first thing yesterday morning.
QUESTION: Hope you feel better now.
SECRETARY RICE: I do. Thank you. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Always your statements are full of hope; but practical, you were here last month, you are here again and you are visiting President Abbas, you are coming back to Israel, traveling to Amman, but we don't really feel that something new is happening as the peace process and it seems like all of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict going around gradually and releasing him, no one almost anymore talking about the final solution, nothing about Jerusalem, nothing about the refugees, for
example. So what's going on really? Nothing new is happening for me. Thank you.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. I've been here -- you're right -- four times in the last four months and I've talked to the parties a lot. Things are changing on the ground; for instance, the establishment of the Palestinian unity government came in the midst of the time between having established that we would meet in a trilateral and the actual convening of that trilateral. That changed the circumstances and we had to work through that. But let me just say something. This conflict has been around for decades. It hasn't ever been resolved. And I don't expect that four visits in four months is going to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. What I do expect is that we have on the part of both parties, I think, a renewed desire to see a resolution of that conflict, and that has been building over now a period of years.
When Prime Minister Sharon talked in his Herzliya address about the need to share the land and make painful compromises, that was different for a segment of the Israeli political leadership that had not really accepted the two-state solution that President Bush proposed. When the Israelis withdrew from Gaza unilaterally but in a coordinated way, it established that withdrawal is possible. When President Abbas was elected by the Palestinian people in a free and fair election to be president of their country on a platform that said that peaceful negotiations is the way to a state, and by the way, the election of a man whose entire political life has been really devoted to that view, something changed. And so a lot has changed now in the circumstances underneath and I think it gives us a better chance to achieve what we all want: two states living side by side, Israel and Palestine. But we have to recognize that a conflict that has gone on for decades and in which there is so much mistrust and in which there's been so much violence and so much death, it's going to take some time to achieve our goal. I have spent a lot of time looking back at past efforts and I've asked myself the question, Why haven't they succeeded? I'm quite confident that unless you prepare the groundwork well, unless you give the parties a chance to have confidence, unless you give them a chance to have confidence before they have to confront each other on the most sensitive issues, you're not going to succeed. You're just going to get people going to their corners.
And so I think the really important thing that we've done over the last few months is that they're not in their corners; they're in the same room and they're going to walk down a path together. As I said earlier, they've opened doors. They're not closing them. And that is -- that's a really important step.
I also think it will be a very important step if their neighbors, the Arab states, can support the diplomacy of Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation with Arab-Israeli reconciliation and the international community has to be involved, too. I understand the frustration and I understand the skepticism because, as I said, it's gone on for decades. But as I said in Ramallah, the Palestinian people have waited long enough for their state and the Israeli people have waited long enough for the security that
would come from a democratic and secure and stable neighbor devoted to peace and security for both. So we just have to work and work and work. Thank you.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, can you just give us a sense of what you think you can achieve in the time left you have as Secretary of State. You talked about a big bang. I mean, do you think there will be a big bang whilst you are Secretary of State in the sense of trying to resolve this crisis?
SECRETARY RICE: Jonathan, I think that it's more likely that we will put in the hard work at the front end -- we have to do that; that the parties will take steps individually and together; that they will develop a sense of confidence. It is extremely important, as the journalist mentioned, that conditions on the ground continue to develop in a positive direction too because there needs to be a desire and there needs to be an effort, a successful effort, to fight terrorism and there needs to be a successful effort to improve the lives of the Palestinian people so that these discussions can continue and be fruitful. But we're on a path here that, yes, at the beginning I think needs to be careful, needs to build confidence. But very often what happens in international politics is that you put in the hard work up front and then there's an opening, an opening that perhaps you didn't expect at the time that you started; you don't really know when it's going to come; and all of a sudden, you can move forward much more quickly because a lot of the groundwork has been laid. Now, I can't tell if you that will happen on our watch or not. We're going to put everything that we possibly can into making it happen. We've still got considerable time ahead of us. I'm not going to try to prejudge when that moment might come, but we believe and I think everybody believes that, yes, it's going to be important to have negotiations for the establishment of a Palestinian state, negotiations within the context of the roadmap but negotiations that can lead to the establishment of that state.
And what we need to do right now is to lay the groundwork so that when that time comes those negotiations have a chance to succeed. A lot of work has been done over the last decades before us, and so it's not inconceivable that getting there we could really finally end this. But my goal is not to worry about whether it's on our watch or not. Obviously, the President has made it a very high priority so he would like it to be while he is President. But our responsibility is to pursue the process
in a way that is likely to make it successful.
QUESTION: Secretary Rice, it seems that every time -- along the same questions that we heard before, it seems that every time the United States is trying to put both Israelis and the Palestinians on a fast lane, somehow it always falls back to first square too. Are you disappointed? We hear a lot of confidence that things will happen. Are you disappointed? You know, many observers here identified frustration on your behalf. Did that come up in the meeting that you had with the Prime Minister last night? Is it recalcitrant Palestinians? What is it? Can you put a finger on it, real reason to why things are not happening?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I just question the premise of the question. Of course, things are happening. A few months ago, we had the Mecca agreement which I think we welcomed the King's efforts to end the violence between Palestinians. But it did complicate things because the establishment of a government that does not -- that is not Quartet-compliant is difficult and it causes complications in the path toward a Palestinian state. But last time I was here, I think we were able to regroup in a sense. We were able to hold the trilateral. But then the question became what would the Palestinians and Israelis be able to do together. And so now we've established that they will work together -- President Abbas, who is the person who accepts the Quartet principles, with Prime Minister Olmert. They're going to do it regularly. They are going to do it not just on the concrete issues on the ground but also on their future and on a political horizon. I'm going to join them from time to time and I'm going to work with each of them in parallel from a common approach.
That establishes the framework now for moving forward to build this confidence so that when we get to negotiations they are on a basis that will actually have a chance to succeed. Again, this is a conflict that is decades old. I assume that had it been easy to resolve it, it would have been resolved by now.
And so we're now going to take the next steps so that when they do begin to negotiate, and I think I said before I came here that the time is not now for formal negotiations, the time is now for them together in their very important bilateral channel and occasionally periodically with me in working with them, to develop this fundamental foundation of confidence.
QUESTION: Thank you. You talked about the hard work that went on last night and how you were up later than you usually are.
SECRETARY RICE: Definitely. (Laughter.) Frankly, Elaine, not that much later.
QUESTION: Okay.
SECRETARY RICE: Okay.
QUESTION: And you talked about the importance of having them meet regularly. But what was the sticking point that caused all this hard work to go and when was the moment that you knew that you had what you came for and so that these meetings could continue regularly?
SECRETARY RICE: Elaine, there is always a lot of back and forth and discussion and trying to understand precisely where we're going, so I'm not going to give you a play-by-play on what our people talked about. But we got to where we needed to be, and where we needed to be was that first of all -- and I want to just underscore this because I do think there was some concern -- that the bilateral channel is not going to be supplanted somehow by work that the sides do with me. That's extremely important. It's a principle that the United States President has held and, in fact, I think Americans have held for quite a long time. And so how to structure this so that the bilateral discussions between the parties remain a focal point for them to resolve their own concerns. Then how to have a common approach that I can use with both parties so that I can help to push the discussions forward, so that we can discuss what principles they are operating under, what tools they need, what help they need from the international community, and connecting with them trilaterally
periodically. So that's one of the issues we discussed. We came out where I think we needed to come out. But again, you know, I'm not going to give you the -- talk about the play-by-play. These things are never particularly easy. Actually, I believe that the discussions last night were good and they were clarifying. My discussions with Abu Mazen have been good and clarifying. And I think we're exactly where I hoped we would be.
Thank you very much.
2007/T4-6
Released on March 27, 2007
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
Secretary Condoleezza Rice Jerusalem March 27, 2007
www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2007/mar/82237.htm
SECRETARY RICE: Good morning. During this trip, I have had intensive discussions with Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas about how to move forward. There is a growing consensus behind President Bush's vision of the State of Israel and the new State of Palestine living side by side in peace and security, as well as an urgent desire to achieve it. The violent extremism we see in the Middle East poses a grave threat to all who seek peace. President Abbas truly desires to be a partner for peace. Prime Minister Sharon recognized this at Aqaba, and Prime Minister Olmert recognizes it now. President Abbas told his people that he could end the occupation by ending violence, that he could lead them to statehood by leading them to reform, and they elected him by a large majority.
The work of peace is made more complex now by the nature of the newly formed National Unity Government. The Quartet's position is clear. A path of cooperation with the new Palestinian government exists, but it is blocked by Hamas's continued unwillingness to commit itself, by word and deed, to the Quartet principles - renouncing violence, recognizing Israel's right to exist, and adhering to previous agreements and obligations. A Palestinian Authority that accepts those principles
could contribute significantly to the fulfillment of their people's longing for a better life and a state of their own - steps that must begin with abandoning terrorism and securing the release of Corporal Shalit. There is, nonetheless, a path that we can and should pursue now. We will join with responsible leaders like President Abbas who are eager to make progress towards peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state. So Prime Minister Olmert, President Abbas, and I have met for discussions and agreed on new actions to accelerate that progress.
President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert have agreed that they plan to meet together biweekly. This very positive development builds on their previous meetings and will benefit both Israelis and Palestinians. The United States has a unique relationship with each party, and we will do our part to support their engagement. So I will meet with the Prime Minister and the President periodically - sometimes separately, sometimes together - in whatever form will be most effective to accelerate progress. The Israelis and Palestinians are taking the initial step on the path to peace, and the American role will include helping them to overcome obstacles, develop new ideas, and rally international support for their efforts. The meetings between the Israelis and Palestinians will focus on two sets of issues. First, they will discuss immediate concerns, like movement and access, management of the passages, and preventing arms smuggling and rocket fire by terrorists in Gaza. On issues like these, the United States is already deeply involved in helping them. On this trip, however, it became clear to all of us that establishing clear benchmarks to measure progress will help us move forward. So this is one immediate task that the parties will undertake with the assistance of General Keith Dayton.
In their discussions together, the parties will also begin to discuss the development of a political horizon, consistent with the establishment of a Palestinian state in accordance with the Roadmap. As I've noted before, we are not yet at final status negotiations. These are initial discussions to build confidence between the parties. Palestinians must know that their state will be viable. Israelis must know that a future state of Palestine will be a source of security, not a threat to it. Both sides must have confidence that economic and trade relations between them will promote the welfare of their populations. The efforts in which they engage will help to build confidence and therefore ease the path to negotiations to establish two states living side by side in peace and security. I will talk to each party in parallel as well to help structure a common approach to discussions of a political horizon - one that will lead us to more concrete and specific steps. I will also ask the two sides to identify what the international community can help them to do -- can do to help them succeed - not after the hard work is done and the ink is dry on an agreement, but right now. Regional states and members of the international community should participate actively in diplomacy to advance the achievement of peace. Applause at the end of the road will be welcome, but help now in moving down that road is far more important. One area is helping the Palestinians build their economy through generous assistance delivered in a manner to assure its proper application. New thinking and new action will also be necessary on the part of Israel's neighbors. Saudi Crown Prince - now King - Abdallah's initiative of 2002, later endorsed by the Arab League, was a welcome example of such new thinking. Now, at this critical moment, we look for our friends and partners of long-standing to build on this important initiative.
Just as Israelis and Palestinians must clarify a political horizon together, the Arab states must clarify a political horizon for Israel. These paths do not substitute for one another; they reinforce one another.
The Arab states should begin reaching out to Israel - to reassure Israel that its place in the region will be more, not less secure, by an end to the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state; to show Israel that they accept its place in the Middle East; and to demonstrate that the peace they seek is greater than just the absence of war. Such bold outreach can turn the Arab League's words into the
basis of active diplomacy, and it can hasten the day when a state called Palestine will take its rightful place in the international community. Through tasks like these, all those nations that seek a negotiated solution can help make it possible - and help make it possible sooner. We all need to tackle the work of peace with urgency. It is a complex undertaking, and it will take time and effort. But President Bush and I are committed to this challenge. As the President said last Friday, Peace in the Middle East is a top priority for this administration. We want to see the creation of a Palestinian state. We want to see lasting security for Israel. And we will help the parties prepare for successful negotiations that can end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, once and for all.
Thank you very much.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you're interested in a discussion of the political horizon, but hasn't it become clear in the last 24 hours that the Israeli Prime Minister and many other Israelis simply don't feel the time is right in this environment to begin talking about these key issues related to the final agreements necessary to open the way for a two-state solution?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, Paul, we're finally opening doors here, not closing them, and that's the spirit in which I found my discussions with both the Israelis and the Palestinians. There's hard work to do. It's been a long time since Palestinians and Israelis really talked about their future in the way that they will. These are serious people. When we're going to begin the dialogue and when they have that dialogue, I'm quite sure that it's going to move ahead and they are going to address more and more, and I'm going to be here to help them. But they need to build some confidence that, in fact, there is going to be a viable Palestinian state on the part of the Palestinians. There have been some signs over the last few years that, of course, that is possible. I would cite, for instance, the Herzliya speech of Prime Minister Sharon and the withdrawal from the Gaza. But there are still questions in the minds of Palestinians about whether or not, in fact, their state will be viable. There are questions in the minds of the Israelis given the continued terrorism that they face that a Palestinian state can be constructed and built, and Israel can be more secure not less secure. They really do need to talk about this future and this horizon.
But again, I'm delighted that they are going to talk and they're going to talk often. And when people talk often and they're serious people, as the Prime Minister is and President Abbas is, they will have a meaningful discussion about their future. And again, they've opened doors, not closed them.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, you defined success for this trip as getting both sides to agree to parallel talks on a common set of issues, including some big ones like what might be defined as a security concept on both sides. Does this agreement do that? Will they really be talking about things of that scope?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I definitely think they will talk about a security concept. If you think about the importance of the security concept, it really is to address the question that I just raised on both sides. When you have a viable Palestinian state, what will be its character, what will be the contents of it; what then in the context of an Israel that has withdrawn then will be the security arrangements, the
security context that allows Palestinians to live viably and Israelis to live in security?
We will have -- I will employ many ways to do this. I expect to talk to them about tools. I expect to talk to them about principles. I expect to talk to them about what the international community can do to support. But again, we need to let them start this discussion, Anne, and we have agreed that there needs to be a common approach and I will help them get to that common approach. So yes, I think we've achieved what we set out to achieve. I will say that I achieved -- they achieved something that I frankly didn't expect to achieve, which is the very regularized meetings between the two of them in which they will talk not just about their specific and more day-to-day issues but also about a political horizon. As you will remember, when I came here I talked a lot about doing this in parallel and doing it with each of them bilaterally, but I think that perhaps the most important thing is that they've agreed to talk together. Now, occasionally I'll show up and I'll talk with them, but nothing can substitute for the importance of the parties sitting down together regularly talking about the issues before them.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, what is the point of talking about the core issues of a political horizon when the Palestinian side cannot deliver the basic issues like stopping terror, like releasing Corporal Shalit? And are there any benchmarks or deadlines in the sets of meetings that you set today between the Prime Minister and the President of the Palestinian Authority?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, it is an important point that while they talk about their future and the political horizon, it is important not to lose sight of what's going on on the ground. And that is why in this trip we also decided that General Dayton should work with each side to develop benchmarks. Now, we need benchmarks on the issue of the ceasefire; that is, stopping the Qassams and the elements of the ceasefire. We also need benchmarks on movement and access. And when I was here and negotiated the movement and access agreement, I think that there were expectations about what that might do for the livelihood of the Palestinian people, for the vitality and viability of the Palestinian economy. And I have concerns that the movement and access agreement, even though it's moving forward, is not having the overall effect on the lives of the Palestinian people that it might. And I'm concerned that the ceasefire is not having the effect on the security of the Israelis that it ought to.
And so I fully expect that when the parties meet bilaterally they're going to talk a lot about how to make life on the ground better for Palestinians and Israelis. I think benchmarks that General Dayton can develop with them and that we can all observe and monitor will help both parties to achieve what they need to on the ground. Because you're absolutely right; as things get better on the ground, so too will the confidence that moving forward toward establishment of the Palestinian state is going to work.
QUESTION: I'm Zajuan from Al-Jazeera again and I have two questions, please. My first one is what was real reason of this delaying of this conference? Is it really -- did you really have any problems with Prime Minister.
SECRETARY RICE: Let me just answer for you. I decided to delay this conference yesterday morning because, quite frankly, I'm better in the morning than I am at 9 o'clock at night. And people who know me know that I go to bed at 9:30. I didn't last night, but I go to bed at 9:30; and frankly, I thought that it would be better to do it this morning. I'm fresher, you're fresher, and we did do some more work last night. But I think we could have tried to do that work earlier, but I decided to delay this press conference first thing yesterday morning.
QUESTION: Hope you feel better now.
SECRETARY RICE: I do. Thank you. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Always your statements are full of hope; but practical, you were here last month, you are here again and you are visiting President Abbas, you are coming back to Israel, traveling to Amman, but we don't really feel that something new is happening as the peace process and it seems like all of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict going around gradually and releasing him, no one almost anymore talking about the final solution, nothing about Jerusalem, nothing about the refugees, for
example. So what's going on really? Nothing new is happening for me. Thank you.
SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. I've been here -- you're right -- four times in the last four months and I've talked to the parties a lot. Things are changing on the ground; for instance, the establishment of the Palestinian unity government came in the midst of the time between having established that we would meet in a trilateral and the actual convening of that trilateral. That changed the circumstances and we had to work through that. But let me just say something. This conflict has been around for decades. It hasn't ever been resolved. And I don't expect that four visits in four months is going to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. What I do expect is that we have on the part of both parties, I think, a renewed desire to see a resolution of that conflict, and that has been building over now a period of years.
When Prime Minister Sharon talked in his Herzliya address about the need to share the land and make painful compromises, that was different for a segment of the Israeli political leadership that had not really accepted the two-state solution that President Bush proposed. When the Israelis withdrew from Gaza unilaterally but in a coordinated way, it established that withdrawal is possible. When President Abbas was elected by the Palestinian people in a free and fair election to be president of their country on a platform that said that peaceful negotiations is the way to a state, and by the way, the election of a man whose entire political life has been really devoted to that view, something changed. And so a lot has changed now in the circumstances underneath and I think it gives us a better chance to achieve what we all want: two states living side by side, Israel and Palestine. But we have to recognize that a conflict that has gone on for decades and in which there is so much mistrust and in which there's been so much violence and so much death, it's going to take some time to achieve our goal. I have spent a lot of time looking back at past efforts and I've asked myself the question, Why haven't they succeeded? I'm quite confident that unless you prepare the groundwork well, unless you give the parties a chance to have confidence, unless you give them a chance to have confidence before they have to confront each other on the most sensitive issues, you're not going to succeed. You're just going to get people going to their corners.
And so I think the really important thing that we've done over the last few months is that they're not in their corners; they're in the same room and they're going to walk down a path together. As I said earlier, they've opened doors. They're not closing them. And that is -- that's a really important step.
I also think it will be a very important step if their neighbors, the Arab states, can support the diplomacy of Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation with Arab-Israeli reconciliation and the international community has to be involved, too. I understand the frustration and I understand the skepticism because, as I said, it's gone on for decades. But as I said in Ramallah, the Palestinian people have waited long enough for their state and the Israeli people have waited long enough for the security that
would come from a democratic and secure and stable neighbor devoted to peace and security for both. So we just have to work and work and work. Thank you.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, can you just give us a sense of what you think you can achieve in the time left you have as Secretary of State. You talked about a big bang. I mean, do you think there will be a big bang whilst you are Secretary of State in the sense of trying to resolve this crisis?
SECRETARY RICE: Jonathan, I think that it's more likely that we will put in the hard work at the front end -- we have to do that; that the parties will take steps individually and together; that they will develop a sense of confidence. It is extremely important, as the journalist mentioned, that conditions on the ground continue to develop in a positive direction too because there needs to be a desire and there needs to be an effort, a successful effort, to fight terrorism and there needs to be a successful effort to improve the lives of the Palestinian people so that these discussions can continue and be fruitful. But we're on a path here that, yes, at the beginning I think needs to be careful, needs to build confidence. But very often what happens in international politics is that you put in the hard work up front and then there's an opening, an opening that perhaps you didn't expect at the time that you started; you don't really know when it's going to come; and all of a sudden, you can move forward much more quickly because a lot of the groundwork has been laid. Now, I can't tell if you that will happen on our watch or not. We're going to put everything that we possibly can into making it happen. We've still got considerable time ahead of us. I'm not going to try to prejudge when that moment might come, but we believe and I think everybody believes that, yes, it's going to be important to have negotiations for the establishment of a Palestinian state, negotiations within the context of the roadmap but negotiations that can lead to the establishment of that state.
And what we need to do right now is to lay the groundwork so that when that time comes those negotiations have a chance to succeed. A lot of work has been done over the last decades before us, and so it's not inconceivable that getting there we could really finally end this. But my goal is not to worry about whether it's on our watch or not. Obviously, the President has made it a very high priority so he would like it to be while he is President. But our responsibility is to pursue the process
in a way that is likely to make it successful.
QUESTION: Secretary Rice, it seems that every time -- along the same questions that we heard before, it seems that every time the United States is trying to put both Israelis and the Palestinians on a fast lane, somehow it always falls back to first square too. Are you disappointed? We hear a lot of confidence that things will happen. Are you disappointed? You know, many observers here identified frustration on your behalf. Did that come up in the meeting that you had with the Prime Minister last night? Is it recalcitrant Palestinians? What is it? Can you put a finger on it, real reason to why things are not happening?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I just question the premise of the question. Of course, things are happening. A few months ago, we had the Mecca agreement which I think we welcomed the King's efforts to end the violence between Palestinians. But it did complicate things because the establishment of a government that does not -- that is not Quartet-compliant is difficult and it causes complications in the path toward a Palestinian state. But last time I was here, I think we were able to regroup in a sense. We were able to hold the trilateral. But then the question became what would the Palestinians and Israelis be able to do together. And so now we've established that they will work together -- President Abbas, who is the person who accepts the Quartet principles, with Prime Minister Olmert. They're going to do it regularly. They are going to do it not just on the concrete issues on the ground but also on their future and on a political horizon. I'm going to join them from time to time and I'm going to work with each of them in parallel from a common approach.
That establishes the framework now for moving forward to build this confidence so that when we get to negotiations they are on a basis that will actually have a chance to succeed. Again, this is a conflict that is decades old. I assume that had it been easy to resolve it, it would have been resolved by now.
And so we're now going to take the next steps so that when they do begin to negotiate, and I think I said before I came here that the time is not now for formal negotiations, the time is now for them together in their very important bilateral channel and occasionally periodically with me in working with them, to develop this fundamental foundation of confidence.
QUESTION: Thank you. You talked about the hard work that went on last night and how you were up later than you usually are.
SECRETARY RICE: Definitely. (Laughter.) Frankly, Elaine, not that much later.
QUESTION: Okay.
SECRETARY RICE: Okay.
QUESTION: And you talked about the importance of having them meet regularly. But what was the sticking point that caused all this hard work to go and when was the moment that you knew that you had what you came for and so that these meetings could continue regularly?
SECRETARY RICE: Elaine, there is always a lot of back and forth and discussion and trying to understand precisely where we're going, so I'm not going to give you a play-by-play on what our people talked about. But we got to where we needed to be, and where we needed to be was that first of all -- and I want to just underscore this because I do think there was some concern -- that the bilateral channel is not going to be supplanted somehow by work that the sides do with me. That's extremely important. It's a principle that the United States President has held and, in fact, I think Americans have held for quite a long time. And so how to structure this so that the bilateral discussions between the parties remain a focal point for them to resolve their own concerns. Then how to have a common approach that I can use with both parties so that I can help to push the discussions forward, so that we can discuss what principles they are operating under, what tools they need, what help they need from the international community, and connecting with them trilaterally
periodically. So that's one of the issues we discussed. We came out where I think we needed to come out. But again, you know, I'm not going to give you the -- talk about the play-by-play. These things are never particularly easy. Actually, I believe that the discussions last night were good and they were clarifying. My discussions with Abu Mazen have been good and clarifying. And I think we're exactly where I hoped we would be.
Thank you very much.
2007/T4-6
Released on March 27, 2007
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
Monday, March 26, 2007
PEACE DRIVE GAINS MOMENTUM
Drive for Mideast peace gains momentum By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer 1 hour, 43 minutes ago MAR 26,07
JERUSALEM - An international diplomatic drive for Mideast peace gained momentum Monday, with Israel welcoming the idea of a regional peace summit and Saudi Arabia suggesting it would consider changes in a dormant peace initiative to make it more acceptable to Israel. Senior U.S. and U.N. officials confirmed they were trying to bring Israelis and Arabs together in a wide push for peace, but acknowledged the idea is still at an early stage.
The new developments came at a time of high-profile diplomacy, with the U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice both in the region for talks with Israeli and Arab leaders.The international officials are trying to break an impasse following formation of a Palestinian unity government that includes the Hamas militant group.
Immediately after the government was formed, Israel ruled out peace talks with the Palestinians until Hamas explicitly recognizes the Jewish state.But on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he wouldn't hesitate to take part in a regional summit. Palestinian officials cautiously endorsed the idea.Any such meeting — especially if Saudi and Israeli officials were to publicly meet — would be a huge symbolic breakthrough. Saudis and Israelis are believed to have held private meetings in the last year.After talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials, Rice traveled to Amman, Jordan, for a second meeting with the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, and separate talks with King Abdullah II of Jordan.Some good things are there. We just have to put them together, Rice said Monday before returning to Israel, where she was to meet for a second time with Olmert, too.
A senior U.S. official traveling with Rice said Monday that one idea that is being pursued is to bring Israel and the Palestinians together as part of wider talks involving moderate Arab countries and the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers — the U.S., European Union, U.N. and Russia.The Arab countries involved in the efforts would include Egypt and Jordan, which both have peace agreements with Israel, as well as Saudi Arabia, which does not.It's a good idea that's out there, the U.S. official said, adding it was premature to schedule a meeting. He said talks were taking in place in Washington and Arab countries.The options are being looked at for how you have a more active Arab-Israeli track, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the proposal hasn't been formally unveiled.At a joint news conference with Olmert in Jerusalem, Ban confirmed that consultations on bringing the many parties together were ongoing, but said further talks were needed.Olmert said he would look at an invitation to such a summit in a very positive manner.
The signs of progress came ahead of an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia this week, where the Saudis are expected to relaunch a 2002 proposal calling for a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Arab world.Israel rejected the plan when it was first launched, objecting to its calls for a full withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967 Mideast War, including east Jerusalem.
Israel also strongly opposes the plan's endorsement for the right of large numbers of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to properties in what is now Israel. Israel says a large-scale return of refugees would spell the end of the country's character as a Jewish state. But recently, Olmert and other Israeli leaders have said the Saudi plan could be a good starting point for negotiations. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister suggested Monday that Arab leaders would be willing to consider changes in the 2002 peace offer to make it compatible with new developments.
It is expected from us to take notice of new developments, which require additions and developments, al-Faisal said. The kingdom is keen that this summit should come out with one Arab voice toward issues of destiny, and in particular the Palestinian issue, he added. Arab leaders had previously publicly rejected Israeli calls for them to make changes to the peace offer. Rice is thought to have been strongly pushing the Arab countries to offer some hope of changes in the plan, during her tour of the Mideast this week. While comprehensive peace talks between Israel and the Arab world are likely far off, the idea could appeal to all of the parties involved. The proposal could allow Israel and Abbas to sidestep problems that have hindered bilateral talks while essentially ignoring Hamas. With its troubles in Iraq, the United States is eager to bolster its standing in the region, and moderate Arabs are eager to counter the rising strength of Iran, Hamas' sponsor.
Hamas, for its part, has said it would allow Abbas to conduct negotiations with Israel, though it has given no indication that it would accept a peace agreement. Saeb Erekat, an Abbas aide, said Abbas had affirmed to Rice our commitment to the Arab peace plan. But he said the focus should remain direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians. A senior Palestinian diplomat involved in preparations for the Arab summit said he didn't expect major changes in the Saudi initiative. These articles are going to be a direct call to Israel to accept the Arab peace initiative, as it is, and that Arab countries will commit themselves in front of the international community to start a mutual implementation of this Arab initiative, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Eds: AP reporter Amy Teibel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
JERUSALEM - An international diplomatic drive for Mideast peace gained momentum Monday, with Israel welcoming the idea of a regional peace summit and Saudi Arabia suggesting it would consider changes in a dormant peace initiative to make it more acceptable to Israel. Senior U.S. and U.N. officials confirmed they were trying to bring Israelis and Arabs together in a wide push for peace, but acknowledged the idea is still at an early stage.
The new developments came at a time of high-profile diplomacy, with the U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice both in the region for talks with Israeli and Arab leaders.The international officials are trying to break an impasse following formation of a Palestinian unity government that includes the Hamas militant group.
Immediately after the government was formed, Israel ruled out peace talks with the Palestinians until Hamas explicitly recognizes the Jewish state.But on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he wouldn't hesitate to take part in a regional summit. Palestinian officials cautiously endorsed the idea.Any such meeting — especially if Saudi and Israeli officials were to publicly meet — would be a huge symbolic breakthrough. Saudis and Israelis are believed to have held private meetings in the last year.After talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials, Rice traveled to Amman, Jordan, for a second meeting with the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, and separate talks with King Abdullah II of Jordan.Some good things are there. We just have to put them together, Rice said Monday before returning to Israel, where she was to meet for a second time with Olmert, too.
A senior U.S. official traveling with Rice said Monday that one idea that is being pursued is to bring Israel and the Palestinians together as part of wider talks involving moderate Arab countries and the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers — the U.S., European Union, U.N. and Russia.The Arab countries involved in the efforts would include Egypt and Jordan, which both have peace agreements with Israel, as well as Saudi Arabia, which does not.It's a good idea that's out there, the U.S. official said, adding it was premature to schedule a meeting. He said talks were taking in place in Washington and Arab countries.The options are being looked at for how you have a more active Arab-Israeli track, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the proposal hasn't been formally unveiled.At a joint news conference with Olmert in Jerusalem, Ban confirmed that consultations on bringing the many parties together were ongoing, but said further talks were needed.Olmert said he would look at an invitation to such a summit in a very positive manner.
The signs of progress came ahead of an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia this week, where the Saudis are expected to relaunch a 2002 proposal calling for a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Arab world.Israel rejected the plan when it was first launched, objecting to its calls for a full withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967 Mideast War, including east Jerusalem.
Israel also strongly opposes the plan's endorsement for the right of large numbers of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to properties in what is now Israel. Israel says a large-scale return of refugees would spell the end of the country's character as a Jewish state. But recently, Olmert and other Israeli leaders have said the Saudi plan could be a good starting point for negotiations. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister suggested Monday that Arab leaders would be willing to consider changes in the 2002 peace offer to make it compatible with new developments.
It is expected from us to take notice of new developments, which require additions and developments, al-Faisal said. The kingdom is keen that this summit should come out with one Arab voice toward issues of destiny, and in particular the Palestinian issue, he added. Arab leaders had previously publicly rejected Israeli calls for them to make changes to the peace offer. Rice is thought to have been strongly pushing the Arab countries to offer some hope of changes in the plan, during her tour of the Mideast this week. While comprehensive peace talks between Israel and the Arab world are likely far off, the idea could appeal to all of the parties involved. The proposal could allow Israel and Abbas to sidestep problems that have hindered bilateral talks while essentially ignoring Hamas. With its troubles in Iraq, the United States is eager to bolster its standing in the region, and moderate Arabs are eager to counter the rising strength of Iran, Hamas' sponsor.
Hamas, for its part, has said it would allow Abbas to conduct negotiations with Israel, though it has given no indication that it would accept a peace agreement. Saeb Erekat, an Abbas aide, said Abbas had affirmed to Rice our commitment to the Arab peace plan. But he said the focus should remain direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians. A senior Palestinian diplomat involved in preparations for the Arab summit said he didn't expect major changes in the Saudi initiative. These articles are going to be a direct call to Israel to accept the Arab peace initiative, as it is, and that Arab countries will commit themselves in front of the international community to start a mutual implementation of this Arab initiative, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Eds: AP reporter Amy Teibel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
RICE SEEKS ARAB SUPPORT
Rice seeks Arab support for peace deal By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer Sat Mar 24, 2:46 AM ET
SHANNON, Ireland - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she hopes Arab states will soon recommit to an old offer for a broad peace with Israel and be willing to negotiate with the Jewish state. Rice plans meetings in Egypt and Jordan in the coming days in hopes of rallying wider Arab support for the stalled effort to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians and to encourage flexibility from Arab nations that have not made peace with Israel.Arab states have been pushing the Bush administration to do more to resolve the festering Palestinian issue, an effort Rice has apparently taken to heart. At the same time, however, she has been arguing to Arab allies that they should consider parallel overtures that could strengthen her hand.
You need the energy and the help of moving forward on the Arab-Israeli side not at the end of the process but earlier, Rice told reporters.Among Arab states, only Egypt and Jordan have made peace with Israel. U.S. officials say other Arab states have too often seen their separate peace with Israel as a bonus that Israel might win only after accommodation with the Palestinians.Rice's trip is timed in part so that she can see Arab leaders and diplomats ahead of an Arab summit later this month. That meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is expected to revive a mothballed 2002 Arab proposal for blanket peace with Israel.The top U.S. diplomat will shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and the West Bank, but she tried to lower expectations for that part of her mission.
It's almost at this point more important, given the upcoming Riyadh summit, to have the discussion with the Arabs about relaunching the Arab initiative, Rice said.Although Rice denied reports from some Arab diplomats that she had asked for changes in the original proposal, she said it should be revived in a way that leaves open the possibility for active diplomacy based on it, not just putting it in the middle of the table and leaving it at that.The Arab plan offers Israel diplomatic recognition and peace in return for full withdrawal from the land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, plus the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. It also calls for allowing Palestinian refugees the right to return to homes in Israel.Israel initially rejected the plan, and is particularly opposed to its granting the right of return to Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
The proposal went nowhere, in part because Israel and the United States considered it a take-it-or-leave-it deal they could not accept. Now Rice is trying to nudge Arab leaders to regard the proposal as a starting point for talks.Rice also said Friday the United States might one day propose its own solutions to the most vexing problems dividing Israel and the Palestinians, such as the borders of an eventual independent Palestinian state.In the meantime, Rice said, she wants to draft a common set of questions and concerns on both sides.
She gave no timetable for either effort but made clear that the United States will be at the center of them.I don't rule out that at some point that might be a useful thing to do, Rice said when asked about presenting a set of U.S. proposals to settle enduring problems that have scuttled past negotiations for peace. Those include borders, the fate of Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinians and their descendants who left when Israel was formed in 1948.Hard negotiations on those and other points will define whatever political deal Israel and the Palestinians can reach, and both sides say U.S. involvement will be crucial. The United States has not publicly placed its own proposed solutions before the two sides since the closing months of the Clinton administration.
SHANNON, Ireland - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she hopes Arab states will soon recommit to an old offer for a broad peace with Israel and be willing to negotiate with the Jewish state. Rice plans meetings in Egypt and Jordan in the coming days in hopes of rallying wider Arab support for the stalled effort to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians and to encourage flexibility from Arab nations that have not made peace with Israel.Arab states have been pushing the Bush administration to do more to resolve the festering Palestinian issue, an effort Rice has apparently taken to heart. At the same time, however, she has been arguing to Arab allies that they should consider parallel overtures that could strengthen her hand.
You need the energy and the help of moving forward on the Arab-Israeli side not at the end of the process but earlier, Rice told reporters.Among Arab states, only Egypt and Jordan have made peace with Israel. U.S. officials say other Arab states have too often seen their separate peace with Israel as a bonus that Israel might win only after accommodation with the Palestinians.Rice's trip is timed in part so that she can see Arab leaders and diplomats ahead of an Arab summit later this month. That meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is expected to revive a mothballed 2002 Arab proposal for blanket peace with Israel.The top U.S. diplomat will shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and the West Bank, but she tried to lower expectations for that part of her mission.
It's almost at this point more important, given the upcoming Riyadh summit, to have the discussion with the Arabs about relaunching the Arab initiative, Rice said.Although Rice denied reports from some Arab diplomats that she had asked for changes in the original proposal, she said it should be revived in a way that leaves open the possibility for active diplomacy based on it, not just putting it in the middle of the table and leaving it at that.The Arab plan offers Israel diplomatic recognition and peace in return for full withdrawal from the land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, plus the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. It also calls for allowing Palestinian refugees the right to return to homes in Israel.Israel initially rejected the plan, and is particularly opposed to its granting the right of return to Palestinian refugees and their descendants.
The proposal went nowhere, in part because Israel and the United States considered it a take-it-or-leave-it deal they could not accept. Now Rice is trying to nudge Arab leaders to regard the proposal as a starting point for talks.Rice also said Friday the United States might one day propose its own solutions to the most vexing problems dividing Israel and the Palestinians, such as the borders of an eventual independent Palestinian state.In the meantime, Rice said, she wants to draft a common set of questions and concerns on both sides.
She gave no timetable for either effort but made clear that the United States will be at the center of them.I don't rule out that at some point that might be a useful thing to do, Rice said when asked about presenting a set of U.S. proposals to settle enduring problems that have scuttled past negotiations for peace. Those include borders, the fate of Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinians and their descendants who left when Israel was formed in 1948.Hard negotiations on those and other points will define whatever political deal Israel and the Palestinians can reach, and both sides say U.S. involvement will be crucial. The United States has not publicly placed its own proposed solutions before the two sides since the closing months of the Clinton administration.
Monday, March 19, 2007
PERETZ CALLS FOR PA FINAL TALKS
WELL ISRAEL YOU BETTER GET RID OF THIS GOVERNMENT QUICK, OR JERUSALEM WILL BE DIVIDED, KADIMA AND ASSOCIATES ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, THEY HAVE TO GIVE THE ARABS JERUSALEM QUICK OR THEIR PLAN TO DESTROY ISRAEL WILL NOT WORK. ONCE THE EUROPEAN UNION GETS IN THEIR THE FAST TRACK TO JERUSALEM WILL BE ON, KEEP WATCHING THE NEWS FOR THE EU TO GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY FOR SURRENDER OF LAND, THIS IS WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS WILL HAPPEN.
Peretz calls for talks on final settlement with PA Chair Abbas
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies MAR 19,07
Defense Minister Amir Peretz called on the government Sunday to begin negotiations on a final settlement with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, rather than waiting for the Palestinians to disarm their factions and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, as required by the road map.Peretz told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that kicking off the process would return the political initiative to Israel's hands and would allow it to set an agenda ahead of the Arab League summit, which is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the end of March.
On the one hand, we must not concede to letting the Palestinians ignore the Quartet's conditions - they must fight terror - but on the other hand, Israel must begin a political initiative rather than being on the political defense, said Peretz. The political freeze is working against it [the PA]. We must take the initiative into our own hands.Other ministers present at the meeting also called on Israel to begin implementing a political initiative. Housing and Construction Minister Meir Sheetrit said that if he were in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's place, he would ask to attend the Arab League summit in Riyadh.It's time Israel took the political initiative to advance the peace process, said Education Minister Yuli Tamir. We need to implement a process in which we are leading, rather than being led.Olmert's cabinet voted overwhelmingly Sunday to uphold the Israeli boycott of the new Hamas-Fatah Palestinian government, implemented in the wake of Hamas' victory in the January 2006 parliamentary elections. In the vote, 19 ministers voted in favor of continuing the boycott. There were no votes against. There were two abstentions - Tamir and Culture, Science and Sport Minister Raleb Majadele, both of Labor.Olmert meanwhile called on Western nations not to be deceived or budge in the face of a newly-formed Palestinian unity government.
His statement came as newly appointed Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amar called on Israel not to turn its back on an opportunity to work together with the unity government. Speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Olmert said that Israel expects the international community not to be misled by the formation of the Palestinian unity government and to persist with its position, of isolating the government that rejects the principles set out by the Quartet.Olmert said also that the new unity government encumbers Israel's ability to deliberate with Abbas, because it includes problematic elements that Israel cannot accept because they do not recognize its existence.
In an interview with Israel Radio, Abu Amar on Sunday called on Israel to work together with the Palestinian unity government, saying he fears Israel would miss out on the opportunity to establish cooperative ties because [Israel] doesn't know what it wants.Abu Amar emphasized that the Palestinians do not expect Israel to recognize their unity government.
He said that they do, however, want Israel to abolish measures imposed since the Hamas election win, namely removing an economic boycott and releasing frozen tax monies. When asked why the platform of the new government does not mention recognition of Israel, Abu Amar said Israelis would be better off not insisting on semantics. The Palestinian minister said also that his government would act for the prompt release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit as part of a deal for prisoner exchange. Ahead of the cabinet meeting, other ministers voiced
their responses to the new unity government. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel would not budge from its insistence not to deliberate with the new government. Cabinet minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel, having decided to shun the new Palestinian unity cabinet, should also cut all ties with Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. Israel has said it would boycott contacts with the new cabinet, but would maintain lines of communication with Abbas.
It would be better that there be no contact with the new Palestinian government, including Abu Mazen, who in effect provides a cover for the new government, Lieberman told Army Radio.But a member of the center-left Labor Party, the biggest coalition partner of Olmert's Kadima Party, suggested it was a mistake to shun non-Hamas ministers who have shown a commitment to a negotiated peace.Majadele said Saturday that Israel must negotiate with the new Palestinian unity government, Army Radio reported.According to Majadele, Israel must not boycott the moderate Fatah members appointed to the new government. Half of the cabinet members are Oslo [Accords] people who have already signed agreements with Israel.
Peretz calls for talks on final settlement with PA Chair Abbas
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies MAR 19,07
Defense Minister Amir Peretz called on the government Sunday to begin negotiations on a final settlement with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, rather than waiting for the Palestinians to disarm their factions and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, as required by the road map.Peretz told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that kicking off the process would return the political initiative to Israel's hands and would allow it to set an agenda ahead of the Arab League summit, which is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the end of March.
On the one hand, we must not concede to letting the Palestinians ignore the Quartet's conditions - they must fight terror - but on the other hand, Israel must begin a political initiative rather than being on the political defense, said Peretz. The political freeze is working against it [the PA]. We must take the initiative into our own hands.Other ministers present at the meeting also called on Israel to begin implementing a political initiative. Housing and Construction Minister Meir Sheetrit said that if he were in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's place, he would ask to attend the Arab League summit in Riyadh.It's time Israel took the political initiative to advance the peace process, said Education Minister Yuli Tamir. We need to implement a process in which we are leading, rather than being led.Olmert's cabinet voted overwhelmingly Sunday to uphold the Israeli boycott of the new Hamas-Fatah Palestinian government, implemented in the wake of Hamas' victory in the January 2006 parliamentary elections. In the vote, 19 ministers voted in favor of continuing the boycott. There were no votes against. There were two abstentions - Tamir and Culture, Science and Sport Minister Raleb Majadele, both of Labor.Olmert meanwhile called on Western nations not to be deceived or budge in the face of a newly-formed Palestinian unity government.
His statement came as newly appointed Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amar called on Israel not to turn its back on an opportunity to work together with the unity government. Speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Olmert said that Israel expects the international community not to be misled by the formation of the Palestinian unity government and to persist with its position, of isolating the government that rejects the principles set out by the Quartet.Olmert said also that the new unity government encumbers Israel's ability to deliberate with Abbas, because it includes problematic elements that Israel cannot accept because they do not recognize its existence.
In an interview with Israel Radio, Abu Amar on Sunday called on Israel to work together with the Palestinian unity government, saying he fears Israel would miss out on the opportunity to establish cooperative ties because [Israel] doesn't know what it wants.Abu Amar emphasized that the Palestinians do not expect Israel to recognize their unity government.
He said that they do, however, want Israel to abolish measures imposed since the Hamas election win, namely removing an economic boycott and releasing frozen tax monies. When asked why the platform of the new government does not mention recognition of Israel, Abu Amar said Israelis would be better off not insisting on semantics. The Palestinian minister said also that his government would act for the prompt release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit as part of a deal for prisoner exchange. Ahead of the cabinet meeting, other ministers voiced
their responses to the new unity government. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel would not budge from its insistence not to deliberate with the new government. Cabinet minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel, having decided to shun the new Palestinian unity cabinet, should also cut all ties with Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. Israel has said it would boycott contacts with the new cabinet, but would maintain lines of communication with Abbas.
It would be better that there be no contact with the new Palestinian government, including Abu Mazen, who in effect provides a cover for the new government, Lieberman told Army Radio.But a member of the center-left Labor Party, the biggest coalition partner of Olmert's Kadima Party, suggested it was a mistake to shun non-Hamas ministers who have shown a commitment to a negotiated peace.Majadele said Saturday that Israel must negotiate with the new Palestinian unity government, Army Radio reported.According to Majadele, Israel must not boycott the moderate Fatah members appointed to the new government. Half of the cabinet members are Oslo [Accords] people who have already signed agreements with Israel.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
JERUSALEM TALKS ON FASTRACK
DEBKAfile Exclusive: Bowing to Washington, Olmert agrees to go directly and unconditionally to final-status talks with Palestinians March 11, 2007, 11:45 PM (GMT+02:00)
Prime minister Ehud Olmert conceded key Israeli policy points in his talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem Sunday, March 11, according to DEBKAfile’s Middle East and Washington sources – contrary to advance statements from his office that the meeting was only a formality. Last week, Bush administration officials notified Olmert’s senor aides Yoram Turbovitch and Shalom Turjman in Washington that the wait for the Palestinians to comply with roadmap conditions to recognize Israel and renounce violence was at an end. Whether a Palestinian government was led by Hamas or shared with Fatah, they were told, Israel must now initiate final settlement talks with Abbas. Saudi and Jordanian leaders had won President George W. Bush over on this point as leverage for cooperation on the Iraq and Iranian issues..
At the Sunday cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, the prime minister therefore announced he was seriously considering accepting the 2002 Saudi peace plan. He already knew the Saudis had informed the White House that the plan would not be revised at the coming Arab summit in Riyadh on March 28. This means that Olmert has agreed to rescind the road map’s conditions for peace talks in favor of the tough Saudi peace plan. It was left to Abbas to run down for Olmert’s benefit the steps expected from Israel, now that the road map’s provisions were out of the way:
1. The Israeli government must pledge unconditionally that the IDF will refrain from attacking the Gaza Strip. Abbas called this “a mutual ceasefire” although he offered no guarantee for the Palestinian termination of missile fire or other terrorist attacks emanating form the Gaza Strip.After the Olmert-Abbas talks, Israeli officials spread reports of an Israel military alert in the area around the Gaza Strip in an effort to lay a smokescreen to conceal the prime minister’s concession.
2. Abbas said he would do his best to obtain the release of Hamas hostage Gilead Shalit, but offered no promises.
3. The mutual ceasefire is the first step to fast-track Israel-Palestinian negotiations on its extension to the West Bank. DEBKAfile reports that Israeli military and intelligence chiefs are trying to impress on the prime minister that the cessation of Israel’s intense counter-terror operations on the West Bank will result in an eruption of a fresh wave of Palestinian suicide bombings inside Israel and the transfer of Palestinian missiles and rockets to launching positions opposite central Israel, including its main cities.
4. Security restrictions on Palestinian movements in the West Bank must be further relaxed.
5. In May or June of 2007, Israel will enter into direct negotiations with the Palestinians on a final -status framework. Since the road map was formulated, Abbas has lobbied hard to skip the document’s prior condition for an end to Palestinian violence as the sine qua non for talks on a final settlement. Now the Palestinian leader has got is way.
6. Abbas voiced the hope that Israel’s flexibility in negotiating with the Palestinians would be rewarded by the willingness of moderate Arab and Muslim nations, like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia, to establish diplomatic and open economic relations with the Jewish state.
DEBKAfile’s sources note that the Olmert-Abbas conversation did not discuss the role to be played by Hamas in the diplomatic process dictated the Israeli government, when it heads the Palestinian government. Also left up in the air was the framework in which the moderate Arab and Muslim governments would “normalize” their relations with Israel. This would call for amendments of the Saudi peace plan. However, Riyadh has informed Washington that no such amendments would be tabled at the coming Arab summit.
Prime minister Ehud Olmert conceded key Israeli policy points in his talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem Sunday, March 11, according to DEBKAfile’s Middle East and Washington sources – contrary to advance statements from his office that the meeting was only a formality. Last week, Bush administration officials notified Olmert’s senor aides Yoram Turbovitch and Shalom Turjman in Washington that the wait for the Palestinians to comply with roadmap conditions to recognize Israel and renounce violence was at an end. Whether a Palestinian government was led by Hamas or shared with Fatah, they were told, Israel must now initiate final settlement talks with Abbas. Saudi and Jordanian leaders had won President George W. Bush over on this point as leverage for cooperation on the Iraq and Iranian issues..
At the Sunday cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, the prime minister therefore announced he was seriously considering accepting the 2002 Saudi peace plan. He already knew the Saudis had informed the White House that the plan would not be revised at the coming Arab summit in Riyadh on March 28. This means that Olmert has agreed to rescind the road map’s conditions for peace talks in favor of the tough Saudi peace plan. It was left to Abbas to run down for Olmert’s benefit the steps expected from Israel, now that the road map’s provisions were out of the way:
1. The Israeli government must pledge unconditionally that the IDF will refrain from attacking the Gaza Strip. Abbas called this “a mutual ceasefire” although he offered no guarantee for the Palestinian termination of missile fire or other terrorist attacks emanating form the Gaza Strip.After the Olmert-Abbas talks, Israeli officials spread reports of an Israel military alert in the area around the Gaza Strip in an effort to lay a smokescreen to conceal the prime minister’s concession.
2. Abbas said he would do his best to obtain the release of Hamas hostage Gilead Shalit, but offered no promises.
3. The mutual ceasefire is the first step to fast-track Israel-Palestinian negotiations on its extension to the West Bank. DEBKAfile reports that Israeli military and intelligence chiefs are trying to impress on the prime minister that the cessation of Israel’s intense counter-terror operations on the West Bank will result in an eruption of a fresh wave of Palestinian suicide bombings inside Israel and the transfer of Palestinian missiles and rockets to launching positions opposite central Israel, including its main cities.
4. Security restrictions on Palestinian movements in the West Bank must be further relaxed.
5. In May or June of 2007, Israel will enter into direct negotiations with the Palestinians on a final -status framework. Since the road map was formulated, Abbas has lobbied hard to skip the document’s prior condition for an end to Palestinian violence as the sine qua non for talks on a final settlement. Now the Palestinian leader has got is way.
6. Abbas voiced the hope that Israel’s flexibility in negotiating with the Palestinians would be rewarded by the willingness of moderate Arab and Muslim nations, like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia, to establish diplomatic and open economic relations with the Jewish state.
DEBKAfile’s sources note that the Olmert-Abbas conversation did not discuss the role to be played by Hamas in the diplomatic process dictated the Israeli government, when it heads the Palestinian government. Also left up in the air was the framework in which the moderate Arab and Muslim governments would “normalize” their relations with Israel. This would call for amendments of the Saudi peace plan. However, Riyadh has informed Washington that no such amendments would be tabled at the coming Arab summit.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
OLMERT 02 PEACE PLAN GO
Olmert: Israel serious on '02 peace plan By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer Sun Mar 11, 8:31 AM ET
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said he was ready to treat seriously a dormant Saudi initiative calling for a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Arab world in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Mideast War. Olmert spoke to his Cabinet ahead of a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the leaders' second summit in the past month.Both sides acknowledged they expected no major breakthroughs ahead of the formation of a new Palestinian government in the coming weeks.The talks, following an inconclusive meeting on Feb. 19 attended by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, are part of U.S.-backed efforts to prod the sides to a return to peace talks.
The Saudi peace initiative, which aimed to solve the Palestinian issue by offering Israel a comprehensive peace, was first proposed in 2002 but never got off the ground. It is expected to be high on the agenda at an Arab League summit later this month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.The Saudis, who have never backed away from the initiative, have been pushing hard for other regional countries, many of whom also have endorsed it, to gather behind the initiative in strength to push the peace
process forward.Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that Israel is following developments in the Arab world with the utmost attention and noted positive developments among moderate Arab countries.
We have said more than once that the Saudi initiative is a matter which we would be ready to treat seriously and we have not altered our position, he said. We hope very much that at the meeting of heads of Arab states to take place in Riyadh, the positive elements expressed in the Saudi initiative will be revalidated and will perhaps improve the chances of negotiation between us and the Palestinian Authority.
The Saudi push comes at a time when many moderate Arab governments are worried about rising tensions in the region and view progress on the Palestinian-Israeli issue as a way to lower the pressure and also to blunt Iran's growing influence.
Israel in the past has expressed reservations about the Saudi plan. In particular, Israel has resisted calls for a full withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem both captured in the 1967 war.
Israel also objects to the Saudi plan's endorsement of the right of return for Palestinian refugees displaced by the establishment of Israel. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees and their descendants, and Israel says their return to former properties would mean the end of the Jewish state.Despite such concerns, Israel is interested in improving ties with moderate Arab countries to counter the rising influence of Iran and radical anti-Israel groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, in the region.
Israel and Saudi Arabia are both staunch U.S. allies in the Middle East.Israel Radio reported Sunday that Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh met Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, by chance in Washington recently.It said the men exchanged pleasantries, and quoted the Saudi ambassador as saying there were many problems to solve together.
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said he was ready to treat seriously a dormant Saudi initiative calling for a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Arab world in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands captured in the 1967 Mideast War. Olmert spoke to his Cabinet ahead of a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the leaders' second summit in the past month.Both sides acknowledged they expected no major breakthroughs ahead of the formation of a new Palestinian government in the coming weeks.The talks, following an inconclusive meeting on Feb. 19 attended by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, are part of U.S.-backed efforts to prod the sides to a return to peace talks.
The Saudi peace initiative, which aimed to solve the Palestinian issue by offering Israel a comprehensive peace, was first proposed in 2002 but never got off the ground. It is expected to be high on the agenda at an Arab League summit later this month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.The Saudis, who have never backed away from the initiative, have been pushing hard for other regional countries, many of whom also have endorsed it, to gather behind the initiative in strength to push the peace
process forward.Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that Israel is following developments in the Arab world with the utmost attention and noted positive developments among moderate Arab countries.
We have said more than once that the Saudi initiative is a matter which we would be ready to treat seriously and we have not altered our position, he said. We hope very much that at the meeting of heads of Arab states to take place in Riyadh, the positive elements expressed in the Saudi initiative will be revalidated and will perhaps improve the chances of negotiation between us and the Palestinian Authority.
The Saudi push comes at a time when many moderate Arab governments are worried about rising tensions in the region and view progress on the Palestinian-Israeli issue as a way to lower the pressure and also to blunt Iran's growing influence.
Israel in the past has expressed reservations about the Saudi plan. In particular, Israel has resisted calls for a full withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem both captured in the 1967 war.
Israel also objects to the Saudi plan's endorsement of the right of return for Palestinian refugees displaced by the establishment of Israel. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees and their descendants, and Israel says their return to former properties would mean the end of the Jewish state.Despite such concerns, Israel is interested in improving ties with moderate Arab countries to counter the rising influence of Iran and radical anti-Israel groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, in the region.
Israel and Saudi Arabia are both staunch U.S. allies in the Middle East.Israel Radio reported Sunday that Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh met Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, by chance in Washington recently.It said the men exchanged pleasantries, and quoted the Saudi ambassador as saying there were many problems to solve together.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
EU - ISRAEL CLOSER TIES
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Mar. 3, 2007 22:26
MK Dotan: Israel interested in closer ties with EU
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL
MK Amira Dotan told European Union commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner on Thursday that Israel is interested in becoming more involved in the EU. Dotan, a Kadima MK who chairs the Knesset delegation to the Parliament of the European Union, wrote to Ferrero-Waldner - who visited Israel earlier this week - expressing her hope for a stronger partnership.I am writing to you in light of your comments to The Jerusalem Post regarding Israel's ability to do more to move closer to the European Union, wrote Dotan. I share in your thinking that more can be done to maximize the potential inherent in the Israel-EU potential (sic) by way of the European Neighborhood Policy and the EU-Israel Action Plan… I view your comments as an outstretched hand from the EU and I am committed to take the necessary measures to turn words into actions.Dotan also said that there was a natural base for partnership between the EU and Israel. The Europeans and Israelis are developing themselves in similar ways. Their dilemmas are similar to ours, said Dotan. I wanted to make sure [Ferrero-Waldner] heard my voice... There is a sense that Israel has not done as much as it should to be involved in the EU.
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Mar. 3, 2007 22:26
MK Dotan: Israel interested in closer ties with EU
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL
MK Amira Dotan told European Union commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner on Thursday that Israel is interested in becoming more involved in the EU. Dotan, a Kadima MK who chairs the Knesset delegation to the Parliament of the European Union, wrote to Ferrero-Waldner - who visited Israel earlier this week - expressing her hope for a stronger partnership.I am writing to you in light of your comments to The Jerusalem Post regarding Israel's ability to do more to move closer to the European Union, wrote Dotan. I share in your thinking that more can be done to maximize the potential inherent in the Israel-EU potential (sic) by way of the European Neighborhood Policy and the EU-Israel Action Plan… I view your comments as an outstretched hand from the EU and I am committed to take the necessary measures to turn words into actions.Dotan also said that there was a natural base for partnership between the EU and Israel. The Europeans and Israelis are developing themselves in similar ways. Their dilemmas are similar to ours, said Dotan. I wanted to make sure [Ferrero-Waldner] heard my voice... There is a sense that Israel has not done as much as it should to be involved in the EU.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
EU STRONGER IN PEACE PROCESS
Top EU Official Assesses MidEast Peace
Written by Benita Ferrero-Waldner - Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Thank you Professor Magidor for those kind words of welcome. I am truly delighted to be here. Not only because the work the Hebrew University is doing through its European Forum is immensely valuable for the future of EU-Israel relations, but also because of the links you have with my home country. The Hebrew University’s Centre for Austrian Studies was established under my tenure as Foreign Minister so I am very familiar with its activities. And we are proud of the good collaboration between Austrian and Israeli academics and students. But I am not here with an Austrian hat today – instead my task is to wear a European hat and talk to you about relations between Israel and the European Union as a whole.Those few sentences hint at the complexity of modern European identity. As professional Europe-watchers you are familiar with the way we switch between one identity and another, reconciling them as we go. The question of European-ness is on the one hand fraught and uncertain; and on the other an ever-shifting, all-embracing, infinitely malleable concept.
I believe this flexibility in attaching the label European to different identities, while not entirely problem-free, does set us out as a model for others.But perhaps it also makes it hard for our partners to understand us. Even when we think we have made clear our desire for deeper relations, maybe it’s not so easy to decide how to work more closely with us. That, I suspect, is the point we have now reached in EU-Israel relations. But before I come to that, let us look at where we currently stand.
Relations between us have certainly moved into a warmer era. We may not agree on everything, but there’s definitely a new spirit of collaboration in the air. We have also made more effort to get to know one another; perhaps some of you saw the series See you in my place on Israeli TV last year? It follows the experiences of border guards, chefs and teachers from Israel and the EU as they swap jobs, homes and countries for a week. Many of the preconceptions we have of each other turn out to be wrong when we see each other close-up.
We’re already seeing the results of this new rapprochement: I don’t know how much is due to See you in my place, but according to an opinion poll published last week, 75% of Israelis would like their country to become part of the EU.Israel's participation in the European Neighbourhood Policy has also helped give new energy and focus to our relations. The European Commission made it a priority to include Israel in the first wave of ENP Action Plans, so it was especially meaningful when Israel became the first partner to agree an Action Plan with us. The purpose of the Action Plan is to gradually integrate Israel into European policies and programmes. Every step we take is determined by both sides and the Action Plan is tailor-made to reflect Israel’s interests and priorities. We have both been working hard to make the plan a reality. Our cooperation on areas as diverse as political dialogue, anti-terrorism, trade and investment promotion, justice and security, science and technology has significantly improved.
We offered Israel the opportunity to take part in the EU’s internal programmes and agencies, and received an enthusiastic response. We are currently working on opening those programmes, dealing with issues as varied as customs, taxation, culture, youth and film. Just last week we agreed Israel’s participation in the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Development, making Israel an integral part of the fast-expanding European Research Area. And we will soon start work on Israel’s participation in the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, one of the EU’s flagship programmes.In the field of science and technology Israel and the EU have bolstered their cooperation in the GALILEO programme for satellite radio navigation. We have offered Israel European expertise on subjects as diverse as preventing terrorist financing and fighting trafficking in human beings. A seminar on Managing Environmental Risks in Financial Institutions enabled Israeli financial institutions and green organisations to learn from European experts in the field.
We have also set up a working group on human rights where we discuss subjects like minority rights, international humanitarian law and the newly established UN Human Rights Council. And a joint seminar on the Fight against Racism, Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism took place in Brussels last December.As a result of the Action Plan we have stepped up our discussions on the most contentious issue of EU-Israel relations over the years, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 2007 has seen renewed efforts by the international community, including the revitalization of the quartet, combined with increased support from regional partners for peace and stability in the Middle East.It is a positive development that PM Olmert and President Abbas have met and agreed to continue contacts bilaterally and facilitated by Secretary of State Rice.We hope that a future Palestinian Government, when it is formed will respond to the principles of peace as put forward by President Abbas and called by the Quartet. We will judge this government by its actions.Clearly, greater certainty and security for Israeli citizens will result from a Palestinian State with permanent borders. The creation of that state will defuse tension and could promote peace, stability and prosperity for both the Israeli and Palestinian people.The EU remains firmly committed to the political goals that have been set out in the Roadmap
As a member of the international Quartet, the EU has been playing a greater role in the peace process in recent years. We launched the EU Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah crossing point to monitor its operations; we made a significant contribution to the UN’s mission in Southern Lebanon; and through our Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) we have so far been able to stave off a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian Territories. Our long term work of building up the institutions of the Palestinian Authority which should provide a democratic reliable partner for Israel has unfortunately been put on hold. But we hope that circumstances will soon allow us to resume this assistance.Our discussions with Israel on this subject are not always easy and we continue to call for the implementation of the agreement on movement and access and the release of tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority, which we suggest could be channelled through the TIM. But the very fact that we are able to sit down together and discuss this issue is a testimony to the renewed strength of our relations.As you can see, the Action Plan covers a broad scope of activities. But there’s more to come.
Last December, in response to the demand for more and better incentives, we significantly strengthened our offer to Israel and other ENP partners. Now we also propose more people to people contacts; deepening economic and trade relations; and stronger cooperation on energy and transport.
We want more exchanges between civil society, university researchers and local authorities; business people, artists and young people. In addition to our Erasmus Mundus programme we have a new scholarship programme open to Israeli students. The EU will finance scholarships for students from ENP countries to attend a course at the College of Europe. I imagine some of you here may be interested in applying, so please take note that the application process through the EC’s delegation in Israel will begin shortly.The purpose of all these exchanges is to help build the kinds of friendships and professional partnerships that will cement relations between us. I firmly believe getting to know each other better is the key to more cooperation.On the economic side we propose a deeper relationship in the areas of trade in services and agriculture. The EU is currently Israel’s main trading partner; more than 30% of Israel’s exports are to the EU and 40% of its imports come from us. EU-Israel trade is increasing by around 4% per year. But we want to go further. We recognise that with services representing almost 80% of Israel’s GDP and employment, a more meaningful trading relationship between us would have to cover services.
There is also scope for greater cooperation on energy and transport. In January the EU issued a package of proposals on energy, addressing energy supplies, energy efficiency and climate change. We want to cooperate with Israel to improve the security of energy supplies and bolster our cooperation over research and technological development for renewable energy sources. As for transport, we want to look at aviation-security and a possible civil aviation agreement. There is also, for the first time, a financial assistance element to our cooperation - Israel is now eligible for €14 million in European Community financial cooperation over the next seven years. And the European Investment Bank is renewing its activities in Israel, starting with €275 million of loans for environmental projects and small and medium-sized businesses. So as you can see, there is enormous potential for the EU and Israel to come closer together. Of the 16 countries participating in the ENP, Israel is among the best placed to reap significant benefits from closer integration with the EU.
But that will require a different approach than at present.
This brings me back to my starting point – that EU-Israel relations cannot yet fulfil their potential because the path ahead is not clear. We strongly sense that Israel has not yet make up its mind how to work with us – not surprising given the EU’s complexity and its multifaceted identity. In the short run we have to focus on swift and efficient implementation of the joint Action Plan. As soon as the main objectives of the Action Plan are met we will agree on further steps - up to the eventual integration of Israel’s economy in the EU’s internal market. We could hardly be more ambitious.In parallel we have to jointly identify the ways and means to deepen our political dialogue in a very pragmatic way: the possibility for you to align with EU CFSP declarations, the co-ordination of positions on international issues, and co-operation in crisis management operations. Naturally you too are confronted with the question of identity. But does building a closer relationship with Europe really threaten Israel’s identity?
I am not, of course, an impartial observer of this debate; I would like Israel to conclude that it can come closer to Europe and share its future with a bloc of nations of common values and interests. My own answer to the question, shaped by my experience as a European, is that identity in the twenty -first century is a highly fluid concept. I think it is possible to reconcile many different identities within one overarching exterior. But this is not a question that outsiders are qualified to answer. Only Israel can decide how close it wants to move to Europe and I suspect that will require a great deal of soul-searching and debate. All her friends in Europe can ask for is a more extensive public discussion to start the process of finding an answer. Benita Ferrero-Waldner is the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy. This speech was made at the HebrewUniversity in Jerusalem. The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.Email editor@themedialine.org.
Written by Benita Ferrero-Waldner - Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Thank you Professor Magidor for those kind words of welcome. I am truly delighted to be here. Not only because the work the Hebrew University is doing through its European Forum is immensely valuable for the future of EU-Israel relations, but also because of the links you have with my home country. The Hebrew University’s Centre for Austrian Studies was established under my tenure as Foreign Minister so I am very familiar with its activities. And we are proud of the good collaboration between Austrian and Israeli academics and students. But I am not here with an Austrian hat today – instead my task is to wear a European hat and talk to you about relations between Israel and the European Union as a whole.Those few sentences hint at the complexity of modern European identity. As professional Europe-watchers you are familiar with the way we switch between one identity and another, reconciling them as we go. The question of European-ness is on the one hand fraught and uncertain; and on the other an ever-shifting, all-embracing, infinitely malleable concept.
I believe this flexibility in attaching the label European to different identities, while not entirely problem-free, does set us out as a model for others.But perhaps it also makes it hard for our partners to understand us. Even when we think we have made clear our desire for deeper relations, maybe it’s not so easy to decide how to work more closely with us. That, I suspect, is the point we have now reached in EU-Israel relations. But before I come to that, let us look at where we currently stand.
Relations between us have certainly moved into a warmer era. We may not agree on everything, but there’s definitely a new spirit of collaboration in the air. We have also made more effort to get to know one another; perhaps some of you saw the series See you in my place on Israeli TV last year? It follows the experiences of border guards, chefs and teachers from Israel and the EU as they swap jobs, homes and countries for a week. Many of the preconceptions we have of each other turn out to be wrong when we see each other close-up.
We’re already seeing the results of this new rapprochement: I don’t know how much is due to See you in my place, but according to an opinion poll published last week, 75% of Israelis would like their country to become part of the EU.Israel's participation in the European Neighbourhood Policy has also helped give new energy and focus to our relations. The European Commission made it a priority to include Israel in the first wave of ENP Action Plans, so it was especially meaningful when Israel became the first partner to agree an Action Plan with us. The purpose of the Action Plan is to gradually integrate Israel into European policies and programmes. Every step we take is determined by both sides and the Action Plan is tailor-made to reflect Israel’s interests and priorities. We have both been working hard to make the plan a reality. Our cooperation on areas as diverse as political dialogue, anti-terrorism, trade and investment promotion, justice and security, science and technology has significantly improved.
We offered Israel the opportunity to take part in the EU’s internal programmes and agencies, and received an enthusiastic response. We are currently working on opening those programmes, dealing with issues as varied as customs, taxation, culture, youth and film. Just last week we agreed Israel’s participation in the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Development, making Israel an integral part of the fast-expanding European Research Area. And we will soon start work on Israel’s participation in the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, one of the EU’s flagship programmes.In the field of science and technology Israel and the EU have bolstered their cooperation in the GALILEO programme for satellite radio navigation. We have offered Israel European expertise on subjects as diverse as preventing terrorist financing and fighting trafficking in human beings. A seminar on Managing Environmental Risks in Financial Institutions enabled Israeli financial institutions and green organisations to learn from European experts in the field.
We have also set up a working group on human rights where we discuss subjects like minority rights, international humanitarian law and the newly established UN Human Rights Council. And a joint seminar on the Fight against Racism, Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism took place in Brussels last December.As a result of the Action Plan we have stepped up our discussions on the most contentious issue of EU-Israel relations over the years, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 2007 has seen renewed efforts by the international community, including the revitalization of the quartet, combined with increased support from regional partners for peace and stability in the Middle East.It is a positive development that PM Olmert and President Abbas have met and agreed to continue contacts bilaterally and facilitated by Secretary of State Rice.We hope that a future Palestinian Government, when it is formed will respond to the principles of peace as put forward by President Abbas and called by the Quartet. We will judge this government by its actions.Clearly, greater certainty and security for Israeli citizens will result from a Palestinian State with permanent borders. The creation of that state will defuse tension and could promote peace, stability and prosperity for both the Israeli and Palestinian people.The EU remains firmly committed to the political goals that have been set out in the Roadmap
As a member of the international Quartet, the EU has been playing a greater role in the peace process in recent years. We launched the EU Border Assistance Mission for the Rafah crossing point to monitor its operations; we made a significant contribution to the UN’s mission in Southern Lebanon; and through our Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) we have so far been able to stave off a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian Territories. Our long term work of building up the institutions of the Palestinian Authority which should provide a democratic reliable partner for Israel has unfortunately been put on hold. But we hope that circumstances will soon allow us to resume this assistance.Our discussions with Israel on this subject are not always easy and we continue to call for the implementation of the agreement on movement and access and the release of tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority, which we suggest could be channelled through the TIM. But the very fact that we are able to sit down together and discuss this issue is a testimony to the renewed strength of our relations.As you can see, the Action Plan covers a broad scope of activities. But there’s more to come.
Last December, in response to the demand for more and better incentives, we significantly strengthened our offer to Israel and other ENP partners. Now we also propose more people to people contacts; deepening economic and trade relations; and stronger cooperation on energy and transport.
We want more exchanges between civil society, university researchers and local authorities; business people, artists and young people. In addition to our Erasmus Mundus programme we have a new scholarship programme open to Israeli students. The EU will finance scholarships for students from ENP countries to attend a course at the College of Europe. I imagine some of you here may be interested in applying, so please take note that the application process through the EC’s delegation in Israel will begin shortly.The purpose of all these exchanges is to help build the kinds of friendships and professional partnerships that will cement relations between us. I firmly believe getting to know each other better is the key to more cooperation.On the economic side we propose a deeper relationship in the areas of trade in services and agriculture. The EU is currently Israel’s main trading partner; more than 30% of Israel’s exports are to the EU and 40% of its imports come from us. EU-Israel trade is increasing by around 4% per year. But we want to go further. We recognise that with services representing almost 80% of Israel’s GDP and employment, a more meaningful trading relationship between us would have to cover services.
There is also scope for greater cooperation on energy and transport. In January the EU issued a package of proposals on energy, addressing energy supplies, energy efficiency and climate change. We want to cooperate with Israel to improve the security of energy supplies and bolster our cooperation over research and technological development for renewable energy sources. As for transport, we want to look at aviation-security and a possible civil aviation agreement. There is also, for the first time, a financial assistance element to our cooperation - Israel is now eligible for €14 million in European Community financial cooperation over the next seven years. And the European Investment Bank is renewing its activities in Israel, starting with €275 million of loans for environmental projects and small and medium-sized businesses. So as you can see, there is enormous potential for the EU and Israel to come closer together. Of the 16 countries participating in the ENP, Israel is among the best placed to reap significant benefits from closer integration with the EU.
But that will require a different approach than at present.
This brings me back to my starting point – that EU-Israel relations cannot yet fulfil their potential because the path ahead is not clear. We strongly sense that Israel has not yet make up its mind how to work with us – not surprising given the EU’s complexity and its multifaceted identity. In the short run we have to focus on swift and efficient implementation of the joint Action Plan. As soon as the main objectives of the Action Plan are met we will agree on further steps - up to the eventual integration of Israel’s economy in the EU’s internal market. We could hardly be more ambitious.In parallel we have to jointly identify the ways and means to deepen our political dialogue in a very pragmatic way: the possibility for you to align with EU CFSP declarations, the co-ordination of positions on international issues, and co-operation in crisis management operations. Naturally you too are confronted with the question of identity. But does building a closer relationship with Europe really threaten Israel’s identity?
I am not, of course, an impartial observer of this debate; I would like Israel to conclude that it can come closer to Europe and share its future with a bloc of nations of common values and interests. My own answer to the question, shaped by my experience as a European, is that identity in the twenty -first century is a highly fluid concept. I think it is possible to reconcile many different identities within one overarching exterior. But this is not a question that outsiders are qualified to answer. Only Israel can decide how close it wants to move to Europe and I suspect that will require a great deal of soul-searching and debate. All her friends in Europe can ask for is a more extensive public discussion to start the process of finding an answer. Benita Ferrero-Waldner is the European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy. This speech was made at the HebrewUniversity in Jerusalem. The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.Email editor@themedialine.org.
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