Conflict-worn Palestinians carve out niches of joy By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jul 11, 11:37 am ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank – Middle-class matrons shop for imported furniture in a marble-and-glass emporium. A new movie house is screening Transformers.Teens bop to a Danish hip-hop band performing on their high school basketball court.Life in the West Bank — in sharp contrast to beaten down, Hamas-ruled Gaza — has taken on a semblance of normalcy.Exhausted after more than two decades of on-and-off conflict with Israel and deeply skeptical about prospects of statehood, Palestinians here are increasingly trying to carve out their own little niches of happiness.We need to enjoy our life despite all the difficulties,said housewife Nadia Aweida, in her 50s, after taking in a dance show in the town of Ramallah.It would seem that the West Bank, under U.S.-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, has finally made first steps toward the stability the international community has tried to foster with massive foreign aid and training for Abbas' security forces.
But the hopeful signs come with many qualifiers.
While Israel has removed several West Bank checkpoints, other obstacles still limit Palestinian mobility to half the territory. The West Bank economy is no longer in free fall, but its growth is insignificant and cannot make up for the continued steep decline in Gaza, according to the World Bank. Whatever prosperity there is depends mainly on foreign aid.Meanwhile, Abbas remains locked in a power struggle with the Islamic militant group Hamas in control of the Gaza Strip, under Israeli- and Egyptian-imposed blockade for two years and growing steadily poorer.Israeli settlements in the West Bank keep expanding, and Palestinians fear the idea of economic peace espoused by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a weak substitute for a state of their own.With unemployment widespread, many Palestinians still struggle just to get by. But those with a little cash in their pockets, including those with steady government jobs, say they're tired of waiting for the comforts of a world they can only see on the Internet and TV.Palestinian companies in Ramallah are sponsoring a pickup basketball tournament, first prize $2,500. A festival at Ramallah's Palace of Culture featuring dance and music groups from Turkey, Germany and France is drawing sellout crowds.The Danish hip hop group Outlandish recently performed for 2,000 fans, including teenage girls in jeans and tank tops. With black-clad Palestinian riot police watching from the sidelines, the excited crowd danced, whistled and sang along.The next night, an Iraqi singer had hundreds swaying to his music at an outdoor performance.This is new in our life and we deserve to live like the others,said audience member Maher Saleh, 29, who works for an advertising agency.An internationally supported law-and-order campaign by Abbas has been critical to the changed atmosphere. Abbas started cracking down two years ago after he lost Gaza, the other territory that is supposed to comprise a Palestinian state, to Hamas.After the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation broke out in 2000, vigilante gunmen ruled and security forces were largely powerless. Even ordinary people took it as license to ignore such basics as paying utility bills.Now they're even being made to wear seat belts while driving. Police are visible in the streets, the vigilantes have handed over their weapons and Hamas militants — the main opponents of the government — have gone underground.The uprising was characterized by suicide bombers striking in Israeli cities and drawing sweeping Israeli reprisals. Israeli raids in search of suspects still go on, but attacks on Israel have all but ended.The West Bank's relative calm could help sway skeptics in Israel who feel Israeli troops cannot leave the territory for fear of ensuing chaos and a takeover by Islamic militants.
While Islamists have deepened their hold on Gaza, there are signs that in the West bank, the traditionally secular nature of Palestinian society, which receded during troubled times, is beginning to reassert itself. Mosques still draw bigger crowds for Friday prayers than they did two decades ago, but men and women mingle easily in public and preachers haven't attempted to stop the summer fun. The outside world has come closer in other, unexpected ways: China has led the way in swamping the West Bank with foreign goods, and Persian Gulf firms plan to build large housing complexes.The new feeling of safety has encouraged some Palestinians to invest, particularly in the former militant strongholds of Nablus and Jenin in the northern West Bank, though most business people still hedge their bets.In Nablus, cinemas were shut down by uprising activists in the late 1980s, and when one briefly reopened in 2006, militants shut it at gunpoint, saying it was inappropriate to have fun at a time of national struggle.But now the 175-seat Cinema City, built for $2 million in a new 10-story commercial high-rise, is showing four films a day, mainly Egyptian dramas and comedies but also Hollywood fare like Transformers (the 2008 version; the newly released sequel isn't here yet).A former Nablus gunman, Mahdi Abu Ghazaleh, embodies the change. Once a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a feared militia, he has won amnesty from Israel, like many of his cohorts. He got married this month and now works in the family wholesale business, selling leather goods and plastics.In Jenin, the flagship of change is Herbawi home furnishings, a seven-story tribute to consumerism with gleaming floors and carefully arranged displays. A world away from the West Bank's typical mom-and-pop stores, it carries Krupps espresso machines, along with furniture imported from Malaysia and Turkey.Durgham Zakarneh, 32, makes only makes $600 a month as a civil servant, but he has managed to buy a refrigerator for $400 in 11 monthly payments. Life is much better now,he said. People can do business without worrying.Other Herbawi stores will open soon in other West Bank cities, said Ziad Turabi, manager of the fledgling chain. Like the Nablus cinema manager, Turabi said he wouldn't have made the $4 million investment in Jenin without the new sense of security, provided in part by disciplined police freshly trained in neighboring Jordan in a U.S.-sponsored program. However, Israeli checkpoints still put a damper on the business — though Israel would argue the presence of its troops also helps keep a lid on militants.The Israeli separation barrier, built to keep out suicide attackers, cuts off the Herbawi store in Jenin from a valued clientele — Israeli Arabs. Israel doesn't allow its citizens to drive through the barrier crossing closest to Jenin, so they have to detour for miles to get to Herbawi's. Even so, there's more freedom of movement. The Hawara roadblock outside Nablus used to be the West Bank's worst bottleneck, allowing Palestinians to cross only on foot after long waits. Now, for the first time since 2000, they can drive through.
The Israeli army has loosened the other checkpoints in its noose around the city, and large crowds are expected at the city's monthlong shopping festival, which will feature an attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records with a city-block-length tray of kanafe, a sweet-and-sour pastry Saleh, the ad agency employee, said he's ready to have a good time after years of gloom. We had an uprising, we had hardship under occupation,he said.We need singing and joy. We need to live a human life.Additional reporting by Ali Daraghmeh in Nablus, Dalia Nammari in Ramallah and Mohammed Ballas in Jenin.
Israeli-Palestinian peace not moving forward: French FM Fri Jul 10, 1:14 pm ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – The peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is not moving forward" though there is progress in the Middle East as a whole, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Friday.In the region, things are moving... countries such as Syria and Saudi Arabia appear to be moving closer to one another, Kouchner said after meeting Lebanese President Michel Sleiman.In the Middle East, things seem to be advancing. But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not moving forward -- on the contrary,Kouchner said in Beirut.The situation is a worry for France but we are very hopeful that this will move forward as well, meaning (the creation of) a viable, independent Palestinian state that can live in peace side by side with Israel, he added.The French minister reiterated a call for Israel to freeze its settlement activity and urged the Jewish state to resume peace talks.Israel has refused to stop construction work in settlements in occupied territory, which the international community considers illegal and which is one of the major obstacles in the hobbled Middle East peace process.In a move considered a sign of rapprochement, Saudi Arabia in June named an ambassador to Syria after leaving the post vacant for a year.Relations between the two had soured following the allegedly Syrian-linked 2005 assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, who was close to the Saudi monarchy. Damascus has denied any link.
Riyadh was also unhappy about Damascus's warm relations with Saudi arch-rival Iran and their support for the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.Diplomats in Riyadh say the Saudis have viewed approvingly Damascus's apparent non-interference in Lebanon's recent elections, which led to the designation of Hariri's son, Saad Hariri, as next prime minister.Kouchner, who on Friday held talks with officials including Hariri and Hezbollah international relations chief Nawaf Moussawi, called for the formation of a Lebanese government without any foreign intervention.It is up to the prime minister-designate to form a government (after consultations) within Lebanon or abroad, whatever he wants,Kouchner told reporters.It is not for France to advise on this.The French FM also said he was pleased with the improvement of his country's relations with Syria, Lebanon's former powerbroker.I am not unaware that Syria continues to be important in this part of the world, and we are pleased to have established normal relations with Syria,he said.Kouchner heads to Damascus on Saturday for a two-day visit.
Netanyahu aide: No Golan pullout for peace By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jul 10, 1:12 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israel will not withdraw from the entire Golan Heights in return for a peace deal with Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top policy adviser said in an interview published Friday, rejecting Syria's key demand for an agreement.The two countries could split the territory, suggested Uzi Arad, Netanyahu's national security adviser and the aide widely seen as closest to Netanyahu. But in the comments in the daily Haaretz newspaper, he said Israel must remain on the Golan Heights to a depth of several miles and cannot withdraw in full even in return for a peace agreement.Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed the territory in 1981, a move that was never internationally recognized. Syria has always maintained that peace will be possible only if Israel withdraws entirely from the Heights.Syrian forces used the strategic plateau to shell nearby Israeli communities before 1967, and Israel fears those communities will once again become vulnerable should the Heights be ceded. Israeli officials also argue that holding the area gives Israel early warning of Syrian military moves and a buffer zone in case of attack.The area is also home to crucial water sources, a profitable Israeli winery, and Israeli settlements with about 18,000 residents. About 17,000 Druse Arabs loyal to Syria also live there.At 485 square miles (1,250 square kilometers), the Heights are roughly one-third the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island.Indirect peace talks mediated by Turkey between representatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have not been renewed under Netanyahu, who replaced Olmert in April. Direct talks between Israel and Syria broke down in 2000.
Netanyahu has said repeatedly that Israel would not cede the Golan to Syria.
Israel needs to retain part of the Golan for strategic, military and settlement reasons. For water, landscape and wine,said Arad. He nonetheless called on the Syrians to resume peace talks with Israel with no preconditions but with each side aware of the other's position.Like the contacts with Syria, talks between Israel and the Palestinians have also been frozen since Netanyahu came to power.Under U.S. pressure, Netanyahu has accepted the idea of a Palestinian state, while attaching conditions the Palestinians reject. But in the Haaretz interview, Arad took a dim view of the Palestinian leadership, saying he saw not a government but a disorderly constellation of forces and factions.There could be worse leaders than Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Arad said. But even with him I don't see a real interest and desire to arrive at the end of the conflict with Israel. On the contrary, he is preserving eternal claims against us and inflaming them,he said.Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called Arad's remarks inappropriate and unacceptable.Israeli officials must stop playing this broken record,Erekat said. President Abbas is president of the Palestinian people and he is a full partner. And he's waiting for an Israeli partner.Israeli leaders have complained that Abbas is too weak to govern effectively. Abbas' Western-backed government rules only the West Bank, one of the two territories the Palestinians seek for their future state. He lost control of the Gaza Strip more than two years ago to the Islamic militants of Hamas.
West Bank should not be Judenrein: Israel PM Fri Jul 10, 1:01 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the German foreign minister the West Bank cannot be Judenrein -- a Nazi expression meaning cleansed of Jews -- a senior official said on Friday.The hawkish premier made the remarks during a visit by Frank Walter Steinmeier earlier this week, according to the official who asked not to be named.Using Israel's normal terminology for the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu said: Judaea and Samaria cannot be Judenrein.There has been mounting EU and US pressure for Israel to halt Jewish settlement expansion in the Palestinian territory.
Egypt in first West Bank talks with Hamas in three years Thu Jul 9, 3:32 pm ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – Egyptian mediators on Thursday held their first West Bank talks with Hamas representatives since before the Islamist movement seized the Gaza Strip in June 2007.For the first time in three years, we are delighted to meet our Egyptian friends here and are optimistic that the negotiations will bear fruit, Hamas representative Omar Abdel Razek told AFP ahead of the meeting.The talks aimed at ending the two-year rift between Hamas and the Palestinian leadership of president Mahmud Abbas were held in a hotel in Abbas's West Bank base of Ramallah.They followed talks earlier in the day between the Egyptian delegation led by deputy intelligence chief Mohammed Ibrahim, and Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and chief negotiator Ahmed Qorei.The rival Palestinian factions resumed reconciliation talks in February. They have agreed to begin what they say will be a final round on July 25.
U.S. denies Israeli report of deal on settlements Wed Jul 8, 3:42 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A U.S. official denied an Israeli newspaper report Wednesday that Washington had agreed to the continued construction of 2,500 housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, despite its calls for a freeze.The report in Israel's Maariv daily followed Defense Minister Ehud Barak's talks in London Monday with U.S. envoy George Mitchell on ending a rift with Washington over its demand to stop the building in land that Palestinians seek for a state.Asked in Washington whether the report was true, State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly replied: No, that report in the Israeli media outlet is incorrect.Our bottom line is -- is the same. It has not changed. And that's that all parties in the region have to honor their obligations. And you know what our position is regarding settlements. This activity has to stop,Kelly said.Kelly said Barak and Mitchell held good, productive discussions and that the U.S. envoy would head to Israel soon but that he had no firm date yet for that visit.Spokesmen for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had no comment on the report.Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the United States and Israel had been trying to find common ground on the settlement issue.Uzi Arad, a political aide to Netanyahu, said Israel was pressing Washington to respect understandings referring to agreements Israel says it procured with the administration of President Bush to permit building inside existing settlements.
There is still discussion on this issue, Arad told reporters at a briefing.
Western officials said the United States was moving in the direction of making allowances so Israel could finish off at least some existing projects which are close to completion or bound by private contracts that cannot be broken.Israel estimates that 2,500 units are in the process of being built and cannot be stopped under Israeli law. Maariv reported the units are in 700 buildings in various settlements and that Washington had agreed to their completion.Barak has been seeking a deal with the United States that would include initial steps by Arab states to normalize relations with Israel in return for limiting settlement activity.Palestinian leaders have said U.S.-backed peace negotiations with Israel could not resume unless there was a complete halt to settlement activity in the West Bank, Israeli-occupied territory where they hope to establish a state.While in London, Barak told reporters that he presented to the Americans the scope of current construction work, which from a practical point of view can't be stopped.Netanyahu, under U.S. pressure, has pledged not to build new settlements in the West Bank or expropriate more land.(Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Ori Lewis; Additional reporting by Adam Entous and Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Charles Dick)
Israel to extend hours of key Jordan crossing Wed Jul 8, 1:58 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel on Wednesday said it would increase the operating hours of the key Allenby border crossing with Jordan in a move aimed at boosting the Palestinian economy.At a cabinet committee charged with improving the West Bank economy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the extension of hours of operation of Allenby for the transport of goods, his office said in a statement.Until now the crossing was open until eight in the evening, a spokesman for the prime minister said.It will now be open until midnight, with the option to extend operations to 24 hours according to need.The border checkpoint near the West Bank town of Jericho is the only point of access to Jordan for Arab residents and businesses in the West Bank.Netanyahu also vowed to push ahead with development of three internationally-backed West Bank projects that have been stalled for years, instructing relevant government bodies to remove the bureaucratic obstacles.The projects include a French-backed light-industrial park in Bethlehem, a German-assisted industrial park near Jenin and a Japanese-funded scheme to export farming products from Jericho.Since forming a government in February, the hawkish prime minister has come under heavy international pressure to remove economic restrictions on Palestinians and end Israeli settlement building in the West Bank.Also on Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and other Israeli officials presented steps the government has implemented over the past three months in a bid to ease the daily life of West Bank Palestinians.The measures included the removal of dozens of checkpoints in the occupied territory, although according to United Nations figures there are still more than 600 checkpoints.The number of checkpoints was decreased from 41 in July 2007 to 14 today... The vast majority of inspection points and crossings in the West Bank are open 24 hours a day,Ayalon said at a press conference.
Hamas denies Palestinian Authority freed prisoners Wed Jul 8, 1:13 pm ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Hamas on Wednesday denied that dozens of its prisoners had been released in the occupied West Bank, as announced by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.The statements by the Palestinian Authority about the release of 185 prisoners in recent days are meant for the media and are baseless, said Sami Abu-Zuhri, a spokesman for the Islamist party that rules the Gaza Strip.The PA said on Tuesday that Abbas had ordered the release of 40 Hamas members detained in the West Bank in a bid to encourage national unity.Last month, the PA announced the release of 100 security detainees in a bid to bolster Egyptian-brokered unity talks with Hamas.The Hamas and Abbas's secular Fatah movement have been bitterly divided since the Islamists overran Gaza in June 2007, confining Abbas loyalists to the West Bank and splitting the Palestinian territories into rival entities.The two groups have held several rounds of Cairo-brokered unity talks since the start of the year but have made little visible progress. They hope to meet again in the Egyptian capital at the end of the month to sign an agreement.
Israel raps EU over settlement criticism Wed Jul 8, 3:36 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has protested to the European Union over a critical report on Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, summoning the bloc's envoy to tell him the statement ignored security concerns.The head of the EU delegation to Israel, Ramiro Cibrian Uzal, was summoned to the foreign ministry after a report by the European Commission on Monday said settlements were strangling the Palestinian economy and perpetuating Palestinian dependence on donors, a ministry statement said.
The foreign ministry blasted the EU report as unfounded.
It ignores the fact that the issue of settlements has been agreed by the parties to be addressed in parallel with the fulfillment of other obligations -- including Palestinian security obligations,it said.Even more troubling is the... implication that Israeli security measures in the West Bank are unnecessary and even illegal, alongside a total failure to recognise that it is the continued activity of Palestinian terrorist groups which makes such measures an unfortunate necessity, it said.The issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the international community considers illegal, is one of the main stumbling blocks in the stalled Middle East peace process.The European Union is one of the largest donors to the Palestinians.
Absolutely no green light for Israel to strike Iran: Obama Tue Jul 7, 6:52 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama strongly denied in an interview on Tuesday that the United States had given Israel a green light to strike Iran's nuclear facilities.Asked on CNN television whether Washington had given Israel the go-ahead for such an attack, Obama said: Absolutely not.In the interview with the US network broadcast from Russia where he is on an official visit, Obama added that Washington could not dictate the security interests of other countries and would seek to settle the dispute through diplomacy.What is also true is, it is the policy of the United States to try to resolve the issue of Iran's nuclear capabilities,Obama said.
This would be achieved through diplomatic channels,he said.The remarks followed comments by Vice President Joe Biden over the weekend that the United States would not stand in the way of Israel in its response to Iran's nuclear ambitions.Israel can determine for itself... what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else,Biden told ABC television's This Week program in an interview broadcast Sunday.We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination -- if they make a determination -- that they're existentially threatened,Biden said.Obama on Tuesday stressed that he wanted first to see progress on diplomacy, as the United States attempts to end Tehran's controversial nuclear drive.I think Vice President Biden stated a categorical fact, which is that we can't dictate to other countries what their security interests are, the US president said.Obama said that the United States reserve(s) the right, and I as commander-in-chief reserve the right, to take whatever actions are necessary to protect the United States.Asked about Iran at an event Tuesday in Washington, the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, said Tehran could have an atomic bomb within one to three years and that such a development risked unleashing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.If Iran secured a nuclear arsenal it would be potentially very destabilizing,Mullen told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.My concern is that, you know, the clock has continued to tick,he said.Saying Israel viewed a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat, Mullen spoke of the criticality in my view of solving this before Iran gets a nuclear capability or that anyone would, you know, take action to strike them.Mullen, who is chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the focus was on diplomatic efforts but echoed Obama's comments, refusing to rule out military options.There is a great deal that certainly depends on the dialogue and the engagement, and I think we need to do that with all options remaining on the table, including certainly military options,he said.
Mideast must seize window of opportunity: German FM By Deborah Cole – Tue Jul 7, 1:37 pm ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Middle Eastern leaders on Tuesday to seize the window of opportunity that the new US administration has opened in the region.US President Barak Obama's initiative creates many opportunities that we need to use now, Steinmeier said after meeting Lebanese prime minister designate Saad Hariri in Beirut.That is why all the partners must take part constructively in this process and make their positions clear quickly before the window of opportunity closes.The Obama administration has repeatedly called for a complete halt to Jewish settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and has demanded that the Israeli government sign up to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Steinmeier, who visited Damascus earlier before heading to Beirut, also voiced support for the resumption of Syrian-Israeli negotiations to help pave the way for eventual talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.Dialogue between Syria and Israel was frozen after the Jewish state launched a massive offensive against the Gaza Strip last December.Steinmeier expressed concern that the Syrian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas had shown no interest in the success of the peace talks.In my view, the peace process can only proceed when destructive elements in the region are reined in,the German foreign minister said in a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem.
Muallem said his country was keen to have further indirect contacts with Israel.
But he added that demands for Damascus to break its longstanding alliance with Hezbollah and its main foreign sponsor Iran were an issue that went beyond the peace process set by an international conference in Madrid in 1991 -- the exchange of land for peace.As for the issue of our relations with Hezbollah or Iran, that's a precondition,he said of Israeli demands for a clean break as part of a normalisation of ties under any peace deal with the Jewish state.We think a resumption of indirect contacts with Israel through Turkish go-betweens is the best way of getting to direct negotiations, but first and foremost we have to be confident that there is a political will in Israel to achieve peace.Muallem said Syria's demands for the unconditional return of the whole of the strategic Golan Heights, which Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community, was an entirely different matter.Yes, we do what to get the Golan back on a silver platter, he said.Let's face it -- it's our land and our right to have it back is the most normal thing in the world.The last direct peace talks between Israel and Syria, sponsored by the United States, broke down in 2000 when Israel baulked at handing back the entire Golan right down to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main water source.Israel's right-leaning government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the idea of exchanging the Golan for peace with Syria.
Egypt president hopes Schalit issue resolved soon By Aron Heller, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jul 7, 12:09 pm ET
CAIRO – An Israeli soldier being held in Gaza by Hamas militants is alive and in good condition, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Tuesday, adding that he hopes the soldier will be released soon.Sgt. Gilad Schalit has been held by Hamas-allied militants since being captured more than three years ago in a cross-border raid from Gaza.The 22-year-old soldier has not been seen since, and Hamas has prevented the Red Cross from visiting him. Egypt has been mediating attempts to arrange a swap of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including militants involved in deadly attacks, for the soldier.Speaking at a news conference with visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres, Mubarak said that negotiations to secure his release are continuing.Schalit is in good condition. I hope that in the coming period, not in a long time, the Schalit issue will be closed,he said.Peres' visit was designed to discuss efforts to free Schalit as well as ways to promote a regional peace agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab nations with peace agreements with Israel.Both Mubarak and Peres emphasized that there is a good opportunity now for peace with the Palestinians.The differences between us are not that great that they cannot be overcome,Peres said.We cannot miss this opportunity.Mubarak said the Palestinian issue will continue to be the top priority for Egypt and the Arab world, and said Israel must stop settlement construction in the West Bank and resume peace talks toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.Israel's continued construction in settlements on lands claimed by the Palestinians is the focus of a disagreement straining ties with the U.S.Peres' visit was his first to Egypt since a new, conservative government took office in Israel.
The role of the presidency in Israel is largely ceremonial. But Peres' stature as a Nobel winner and Israel's elder statesman, along with the difficult reputation of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, gave his visit greater diplomatic significance.With the blessing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Peres has been meeting overseas with foreign leaders in recent months in an attempt to soften the new government's image and express its desire to pursue peace efforts.Last month, in a move at least partly aimed at easing tensions with Washington, Netanyahu expressed support for the first time for the creation of a Palestinian state. But the Palestinians have rejected Netanyahu's conditions, namely that such a state would have to be demilitarized and recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people. They have also said they will not resume negotiations until Israel halt's its settlement construction.Speaking at the presidential palace in Cairo, Peres insisted that following Netanyahu's speech the Israeli government was firmly committed to the creation of a Palestinian state.The formal position of the Israeli government is a solution of two states for two people: Palestine will be an Arab state and Israel will be a Jewish state,he said.Israel has no intention to rule over the Palestinian people. We have no intention to confiscate land, and we have no intention to build new settlements.He did not address the issue of building within existing settlements, which has been the key point of contention between Israel and the United States. The Obama administration has been pushing for a freeze on all settlement building while the Israeli government wants to continue building in existing settlements to allow for growing families.
