Entire text of Olmert speech to Congress,THE JERUSALEM POST, May. 24, 2006
On behalf of the people and State of Israel, I wish to express my profound gratitude to you for the privilege of addressing this Joint Meeting of the US Congress. This building, this chamber, and all of you stand as testament to the enduring principles of liberty and democracy.
More than 30 years ago, I came to Washington as a young legislator, thanks to a program sponsored by the State Department. I had a chance to tour this building, and I saw then what I believe today - that this institution, the United States Congress, is the greatest deliberative body in the world. I did not imagine then, that a day would actually come, when I would have the honor of addressing this forum as the Prime Minister of my nation, the State of Israel.
The United States is a superpower whose influence reaches across oceans and beyond borders. Your continued support, which, I am happy to say, transcends partisan affiliations, is of paramount importance to us. We revere the principles and values represented by your great country, and are grateful for the unwavering support and friendship we have received from the US Congress, from President George W. Bush and from the American people.
Abraham Lincoln once said, "I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me, and I didn't have the heart to let him down.
Israel is grateful that America believes in us. Let me assure you that we will NOT let you down.
The similarities in our economic, social and cultural identities are obvious, but there's something much deeper and everlasting. The unbreakable ties between our two nations extend far beyond mutual interests. They are based on our shared goals and values stemming from the very essence of our mutual foundations.
This coming Monday, the 29th of May, you commemorate Memorial Day for America's fallen. The graves of brave American soldiers are scattered throughout the world: in Asia and in the Pacific, throughout Europe and Africa, in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. The pain of the families never heals, and the void they leave is never filled.
It is impossible to think of a world in which America was not there, in the honorable service of humanity. On Monday, when the Stars and the Stripes are lowered to half-mast, we, the people of Israel, will bow our heads with you.
Our two great nations share a profound belief in the importance of freedom and a common pioneering spirit deeply rooted in optimism. It was the energetic spirit of our pioneers that enabled our two countries to implement the impossible. To build cities where swamps once existed and to make the desert bloom.
My parents Bella and Mordechai Olmert were lucky… They escaped the persecution in Ukraine and Russia and found sanctuary in Harbin, China. They immigrated to Israel to fulfill their dream of building a Jewish and democratic state living in peace in the land of our ancestors.
My parents came to the Holy Land following a verse in the Old Testament in the book of second Samuel "I will appoint a place for my people Israel and I will plant them in their land and they will dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.
Distinguished members of Congress, I come here - to this home of liberty and democracy - to tell you that my parents' dream, our dream, has only been partly fulfilled. We have succeeded in building a Jewish democratic homeland. We have succeeded in creating an oasis of hope and opportunity in a troubled region. But there has not yet been one year… one week… even one day… of peace in our tortured land.
Our Israeli pioneers suffered, and their struggle was long and hard. Yet even today, almost 60 years after our independence, that struggle still endures. Since the birth of the state of Israel and until this very moment, we have been continually at war and amidst confrontation. The confrontation has become even more violent, the enemy turned even more inhumane due to the scourge of suicide terrorism. But we are not alone. Today, Israel, America, Europe, and democracies across the globe, unfortunately, face this enemy.
Over the past six years more than 20,000 attempted terrorist attacks have been initiated against the people of Israel. Most, thankfully, have been foiled by our security forces. But those which have succeeded have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians… and the injury of thousands - many of them children guilty ONLY of being in what proved to be the wrong place at the wrong time.
These are not statistics…. These are real people with beautiful souls that have left this earth far too soon. In the decade I served as mayor of my beloved City, Jerusalem, we faced the lion's share of the seemingly endless wave of terrorism.
I remember Galila, a twelve year old girl, an Ethiopian immigrant, whose parents worked in the King David Hotel. On one particular morning, Galila's parents' fear of their daughter taking the bus overwhelmed them, and they asked to drive her to school. She refused, assuring her parents "Don't worry, I know where it is safe to sit". She found a seat she thought was safe. Unfortunately, a suicide bomber ascended that very bus Galila was on and exploded himself right next to her.
When I visited her grieving parents, Galila's mother came to me and pleaded "you are the mayor of Jerusalem. Please find me some item, anything, of remembrance belonging to my daughter, even a shoelace". I did everything a mayor could do, checking repeatedly with the police, insisting that they continue to scour the wreckage of the burned out bus. But the police confirmed the terrible truth: not even a shoelace could be found.
Among the victims of this brutal and unremitting terror, I am sorry to tell you, are also American citizens. Only last week, Daniel Cantor Wultz, a 16 year old high school student from Weston, Florida, who came to spend the Passover holiday with his parents in Israel, succumbed to his sever injuries, incurred in Israel's most recent suicide attack.
I asked Daniel's parents and sister, Yekutiel, Sheryl and Amanda Wultz, who only finished the traditional period of mourning two days ago, to be with us here today. Daniel was a relative of Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia, an honorable member of this house. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
I bring Galila's memory, Daniel's memory, and the loss of so many others, with me to my new post as Prime Minister. I also bring with me the horrific scenes I saw with my own eyes when I visited New York just a few days after the devastating attacks on September 11th. A tragedy that transcends any other terrorist attack that has ever occurred.
As I told my good friend Rudy Giuliani, on that dreadful day, our hearts went out to you. Not only because of the friendship between us, but because, tragically and personally, we both know what it is to confront the evil of terrorism at home.
Our countries do not just share the experience and pain of terrorism. We share the commitment and resolve to confront the brutal terrorists that took these innocent people from us. We share the commitment to extract from our grief a renewed dedication to providing our people with a better future.
Let me state this as clearly as I can: we will NOT yield to terror…we will NOT surrender to terror….. and we WILL WIN the war on terror and restore peace to our societies.
The Palestinian Authority is ruled by Hamas - an organization committed to vehement anti-Semitism, the glorification of terror and the total destruction of Israel. As long as these are their guiding principles, they can never be a partner.
Therefore, while Israel works to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population are met, we can never capitulate to terrorists or terrorism. I pay tribute to the firmness and the clarity with which the President and this Congress uphold this crucial principle which we both firmly share.
Israel commends this Congress for initiating the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act which sends a firm clear message that the United States of America will not tolerate terrorism in any form.
Like America, Israel seeks to rid itself of the horrors of terrorism. Israel yearns for peace and security. Israel is determined to take responsibility for its own future and take concrete steps to turn its dreams into reality. The painful but necessary process of Disengagement from the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria was an essential step.
At this moment, my thoughts turn especially to the great leader, who, in normal circumstances, should have stood here. Ariel Sharon, the legendary statesman and visionary, my friend and colleague, could not be here with us but I am emboldened by the promise of continuing his mission. I pray, as I am sure you all do too, for his recovery.
Ariel Sharon is a man of few words and great principles. His vision and dream of peace and security transcended time, philosophy and politics. Israel must still meet the momentous challenge of guaranteeing the future of Israel as a democratic state with a Jewish majority, within permanent and defensible borders and a united Jerusalem as its capital - that is open and accessible for the worship of all religions.
This was the dream to which Ariel Sharon was loyally committed. This was the mission he began to fulfill. It is the goal and the purpose of the Kadima party that he founded and to which I was the first to join. And it is this legacy of liberty, identity and security that I embrace. It is what I am working towards. It is what I am so passionately hoping for.
Although our government has changed, Israel's goal remains the same. As Prime Minister Sharon clearly stated: "The Palestinians will forever be our neighbors. They are an inseparable part of this land, as are we. Israel has no desire to rule over them, nor to oppress them. They too have a right for freedom and national inspirations.
With the vision of Ariel Sharon guiding my actions, from this podium today, I extend my hand in peace to Mahmoud Abbas, elected President of the Palestinian Authority. On behalf of the State of Israel, we are willing to negotiate with a Palestinian Authority. This authority must renounce terrorism, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, accept previous agreements and commitments, and recognize the right of Israel to exist.
Let us be clear: peace, without security, will bring neither peace nor security.
We will not, we cannot, compromise on these basic tests of partnership.
With a genuine Palestinian partner for peace, I believe we can reach an agreement on all the issues that divide us. Our past experience shows us it is possible to bridge the differences between our two peoples. I believe this - I KNOW THIS - because we have done it before, in our peace treaties with Egypt and with Jordan. These treaties involved painful and difficult compromises. It required Israel to take real risks.
But if there is to be a just, fair and lasting peace, we need a partner who rejects violence and who values life more than death. We need a partner that affirms in action, not just in words, the rejection, prevention and elimination of terror.
Peace with Egypt became possible only after President Anwar Sadat came to our Knesset and declared, once and for all, "No more war and no more bloodshed." And peace with Jordan became possible only after the late King Hussein, here in Washington, declared the end of the state of belligerency, signed a peace treaty with us, and wholeheartedly acknowledged Israel's right to exist.
The lesson for the Palestinian people is clear. In a few years they could be living in a Palestinian state, side by side in peace and security with Israel. A Palestinian State which Israel and the international community would help thrive.
But no one can make this happen for them if they refuse to make it happen for themselves.
For thousands of years, we Jews have been nourished and sustained by a yearning for our historic land. I, like many others, was raised with a deep conviction that the day would never come when we would have to relinquish parts of the land of our forefathers. I believed, and to this day still believe, in our people's eternal and historic right to this entire land.
But I also believe that dreams alone will not quiet the guns that have fired unceasingly for nearly a hundred years. Dreams alone will not enable us to preserve a secure democratic Jewish state.
Jews all around the world read in this week's Torah portion: "And you will dwell in your land safely and I will give you peace in the land, and there shall be no cause for fear neither shall the sword cross through the Promised Land.
Painfully, we the people of Israel have learned to change our perspective. We have to compromise in the name of peace, to give up parts of our promised land in which every hill and valley is saturated with Jewish history and in which our heroes are buried. We have to relinquish part of our dream to leave room for the dream of others, so that all of us can enjoy a better future. For this painful but necessary task my government was elected. And to this I am fully committed.
We hope and pray that our Palestinian neighbors will also awaken. We hope they will make the crucial distinction between implementing visions that can inspire us to build a better reality, and mirages that will only lead us further into the darkness. We hope and pray for this, because no peace is more stable than one reached out of mutual understanding not just for the past but for the future.
We owe a quiet and normal life to ourselves, our children and our grandchildren. After defending ourselves for almost 60 years against attacks, all our children should be allowed to live free of fear and terror.
And so I ask of the Palestinians: How can a child growing up in a Culture of Hate dream of the possibility of peace? It is so important that all schools and all educational institutions in the region teach our children to be hate-free.
The key to a true lasting peace in the Middle East is in the education of the next generation.
So let us today call out to all peoples of the Middle East: replace the Culture of Hate with an outlook of hope.
It is three years since the Road Map for Peace was presented. The Road Map was and remains the right plan. A Palestinian leadership that fulfils its commitments and obligations will find us a willing partner in peace. But if they refuse, we will not give a terrorist regime a veto over progress, or allow it to take hope hostage.
We cannot wait for the Palestinians forever. Our deepest wish is to build a better future for our region, hand in hand with a Palestinian partner, but if not, we will move forward, but not alone.
We could never have implemented the Disengagement plan without your firm support. The Disengagement could never have happened without the commitments set out by President Bush in his letter of April 14, 2004, endorsed by both houses of Congress in unprecedented majorities. In the name of the People of Israel, I thank President Bush for this commitment and for his support and friendship.
The next step is even more vital to our future and to the prospects of finally bringing peace to the Middle East. Success will only be possible with America as an active participant, leading the support of our friends in Europe and across the world.
Should we realize that the bilateral track with the Palestinians is of no consequence, should the Palestinians ignore our outstretched hand for peace, Israel will seek other alternatives to promote our future and the prospects of hope in the Middle East. At that juncture, the time for realignment will occur.
Realignment would be a process to allow Israel to build its future without being held hostage to Palestinian terrorist activities. Realignment would significantly reduce the friction between Israelis and Palestinians and prevent much of the conflict between our two battered nations.
The goal is to break the chains that have tangled our two peoples in unrelenting violence for far too many generations. With our futures unbound peace and stability might finally find its way to the doorsteps of this troubled region.
Mr. Speaker,
Allow me to turn to another dark and gathering storm casting its shadow over the world….
Every generation is confronted with a moment of truth and trial. From the savagery of slavery, to the horrors of World War Two, to the gulags of the Communist Bloc. That which is right and good in this world has always been at war with the horrific evil permitted by human indifference.
Iran, the world's leading sponsor of terror, and a notorious violator of fundamental human rights, stands on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. With these weapons, the security of the entire world is put in jeopardy.
We deeply appreciate America's leadership on this issue and the strong bipartisan conviction that a nuclear-armed Iran is an intolerable threat to the peace and security of the world. It cannot be permitted to materialize. This Congress has proven its conviction by initiating the Iran Freedom and Support Act. We applaud these efforts.
A nuclear Iran means a terrorist state could achieve the primary mission for which terrorists live and die: the mass destruction of innocent human life. This challenge, which I believe is The Test of Our Time, is one the West cannot afford to fail.
The radical Iranian regime has declared the United States its enemy. Its President believes it is his religious duty and his destiny to lead his country in a violent conflict against the infidels. With pride he denies the Jewish Holocaust and speaks brazenly, calling to wipe Israel off the map.
For us, this is an existential threat. A threat to which we cannot consent. But it is not Israel's threat alone. It is a threat to all those committed to stability in the Middle East and the well being of the world at large.
Mr. Speaker, our moment is NOW. History will judge our generation by the actions we take NOW…by our willingness to stand up for peace and security and freedom, and by our courage to do what is right.
The international community will be measured not by its intentions but by its results. The international community will be judged by its ability to convince nations and peoples to turn their backs on hatred and zealotry. If we don't take Iran's bellicose rhetoric seriously now, we will be forced to take its nuclear aggression seriously later.
Mr. Speaker,
The true Israel is not one you can understand through the tragic experiences of the complex geopolitical realities. Israel has impressive credentials in the realms of science, technology, high-tech and the arts and many Israelis are Nobel Prizes laureates in various fields.
A land with limited resources, eager to facilitate cooperation with the United States, Israel devotes its best and brightest scientists to Research and Development for new generations of safe, reliable, efficient and environmentally friendly sources of energy. Both our countries share a desire for energy security and prevention of global warming. Therefore, through the United States - Israel energy cooperation act and other joint frameworks, in collaboration with our US counterparts, Israel will increase its efforts to find advanced scientific and technological solutions, designed to develop new energy sources and encourage conservation.
Just one example of Israel's remarkable achievements is the recent 4 billion dollar purchase by an American company of Israel's industrial giant Iscar. This is an important endorsement of the Israeli economy, which has more companies listed on NASDAQ than any country other than the United States and Canada. It is also a vote of confidence in Israel's strategic initiative to enhance the economic and social development of our Negev and Galilee regions.
But above all it is recognition that what unites us, Israel and America, is a commitment to tap the greatest resource of all - the human mind and the human spirit. We believe in the moral principles shared by our two nations and they guide our political decisions. We believe that life is sacred and fanaticism is not.
We believe that every democracy has the right and the duty to defend its citizens and its values against all enemies.
We believe that terrorism not only leads to war but that terrorism is war. A war that must be won every day. A war in which all men and women of goodwill must be allies.
We believe that peace among nations remains not just the noblest ideal but a genuine reality.
We believe that peace, based on mutual respect, must be and is attainable in the near future.
We, as Jews and citizens of Israel, believe that our Palestinian neighbors want to live in peace. We believe that they have the desire, and hopefully the courage, to reject violence and hatred as means to attain national independence.
The Bible tells us that as Joshua stood on the verge of the Promised Land, he was given one exhortation: 'Chazak Ve'ematz' 'Be strong and of good courage.
Strength, without courage, will only lead to brutality. Courage, without strength, will only lead to futility. Only genuine courage and commitment to our values, backed by the will and the power to defend them, will lead us forward in the service of humanity.
To the Congress of the United States and to the great people of America, I wish to say 'Chazak Ve'ematz' be strong and of good courage, and we, and all peoples who cherish freedom, will be with you.
And God Bless America,
Thank you
Copyright 1995-2006 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
TUE OLMERT BUSH PRESS CONFERENCE
President Bush Holds a Joint Press Conference with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel
Tuesday, May 23, 2006; 5:54 PM
SPEAKERS: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES EHUD OLMERT, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL
BUSH: Thank you.
Mr. Prime Minister, welcome.
I'm particularly pleased to welcome Mrs. Olmert to the White House as well. Thanks for coming.
The prime minister and I have known each other since 1998, when he was the mayor of Jerusalem and I was the governor of Texas. And I remember you greeting me in your office there and you probably thought you were going to be the prime minister. I wasn't sure if I was going to be the president.(LAUGHTER)
We've just had a really productive meeting. We reaffirmed the deep and abiding ties between Israel and the United States. And those ties include our commitment to democracy and our strong belief that everybody has the right to worship freely. The ties include growing trade and economic relationships. The ties include important educational exchange programs that allow Israeli students to study at American colleges and universities and American students to travel and study in Israel.
In our meeting, the prime minister and I recalled the great contributions to peace made by Ariel Sharon. I asked the prime minister to convey my very best wishes to Ariel Sharon's sons.
Prime Minister Olmert and I discussed peace and security in the Middle East, which the people of Israel seek and the American people support.In 2002, I outlined my vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.
BUSH: And Mr. Olmert told me that he and his government share this vision.
The international community seeks to realize this goal through the road map, which calls for a comprehensive settlement that resolves all outstanding issues between Israelis and Palestinians.I believe, and Prime Minister Olmert agrees, that a negotiated final status agreement best serves both the Israelis and the Palestinians and the cause of peace.
Palestinian Authority President Abbas favors and speaks out for peace and negotiations, yet the Hamas-led Palestinian government does not. Hamas needs to make a strategic choice for peace.
The United States and the international community have made clear that Hamas must recognize Israel's right to exist, must abandon terror and must accept all previous agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. No country can be expected to make peace with those who deny its right to exist and who use terror to attack its population.
BUSH: Today, Prime Minister Olmert shared with me some of his ideas. I would call them bold ideas. These ideas could lead to a two-state solution if a pathway to progress on the road map is not opened in the period ahead. His ideas include the removal of most Israeli settlements except for the major Israeli population centers in the West Bank. This idea would follow Prime Minister Sharon's decision to remove all settlements in Gaza and several in the West Bank.I look forward to learning more about the prime minister's ideas.
While any final status agreement will be only achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes, and no party should prejudice the outcome of negotiations on a final status agreement, the prime minister's ideas could be an important step toward the peace we both support.
I'm encouraged by his constructive efforts to find ways to move the peace process forward.
And, finally, the prime minister and I shared our concerns about the Iranian regime's nuclear weapons ambitions. The United States and the international community have made our common position clear: We're determined that the Iranian regime must not gain nuclear weapons. I told the prime minister what I've stated publicly before: Israel is a close friend and ally of the United States. And in the event of any attack on Israel, the United States will come to Israel's aid.
BUSH: The United States is strongly committed and I am strongly committed to the security of Israel as a vibrant Jewish state. I look forward to our continuing discussions after this press conference. I'm not sure the delegations realize this yet, but we're going to shed ourselves of our delegations and the prime minister and I are going to go up to the residence and sit down and have a continued dialogue. And if we decide to brief our delegations on what we discussed, we will do so. But, if not, they're going to have to guess.(LAUGHTER) And then I'm looking forward to dinner. Welcome.
OLMERT: Thank you, Mr. President.
I thank you for your kind invitation to visit Washington and for the opportunity to meet with you in discuss the main issues in our common agenda. Our meeting was enlightening. And I look forward to working closely with you in the coming years to deepen the friendship,understanding and bilateral ties between the United States and Israel. I also recall our meeting in the city hall when you and I were strolling around the beautiful building at the terrace of the sixth floor watching the walls of the city of Jerusalem.
OLMERT: At that time, you were the governor; I was the mayor. And I think none of us thought that the day would come that I would have the honor and the privilege of being hosted by you as president of the United States and prime minister of Israel. I could sense, then, your deep connection to the Holy Land and your friendship and commitment to the state of Israel.
I must say, Mr. President, that my instincts did not fail me. I and the entire people of Israel appreciate your true friendship and unwavering commitment to Israel's security and its well-being as a vibrant Jewish state.
Your involvement in the Middle East and personal contribution to the effort toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been significant. The vision which you outlined in your historic speech of June 2002 of two democratic states living side by side in peace and security is the basis of any progress toward a solution in this region. Your unreserved support of the disengagement plan and your letter of April 14th, 2004, to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- and I join you in praying for his recovery -- were the basis for the success of its implementation.
OLMERT: What you immediately recognized to be a historic step was later adopted by all those who were skeptical in the beginning. I intend to exhaust every possibility to promote peace with the Palestinians according to the road map, and I extend my hand in peace to Mahmoud Abbas, the elected president of the Palestinian Authority. I hope he will take the necessary steps which he committed to in order to move forward. Unfortunately, the rise of Hamas, a terrorist organization which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and regards terrorism as a legitimate tool, severely undermines the possibility of promoting a genuine peace process.
As you stated, Mr. President, the Palestinian Authority headed by Hamas government must abandon the path of terrorism, dismantle the terror infrastructure, honor agreements and recognize Israel's right to exist.
By doing so, they will find us a willing partner in peace. However, we will not enter into any kind of partnership with a party which refuses to recognize our right to live in peace and security.
Despite our sincere desire for negotiations, we cannot wait indefinitely for the Palestinians to change. We cannot be held hostage by a terrorist entity which refuses to change or to promote dialogue. If we come to the conclusion that no progress is possible, we will be compelled to try a different route.
OLMERT: I have presented to the president ideas which I believe could help advance his vision and prevent a political stalemate. According to these ideas, we will remove most of the settlements which are not part of the major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria.
The settlements within the population centers would remain under Israeli control and become part of the state of Israel as part of the final status agreement. This process of realignment would reduce friction between Israelis and Palestinians, ensure territorial contiguity for the Palestinians, and guarantee Israel's security as a Jewish state with the borders it desires.
The implementation of these ideas would only be possible with the comprehensive support of the United States and the international community. I anticipate working with you to explore ways to advance this.
We discussed the Iranian issue. The Iranian regime, which calls for Israel's destruction, openly denies the Holocaust and views the United States as its enemy, makes every effort to implement its fundamentalist religious ideologies and blatantly disregards the demands of the international community.The Iranian threat is not only a threat to Israel; it is a threat to the stability of the Middle East and the entire world. And it could mark the beginning of a dangerous and irresponsible arms race in the Middle East. Mr. President, we appreciate your efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, including through the U.N. Security Council.
OLMERT: They are of crucial importance.The international community cannot tolerate a situation where a regime with a radical ideology and a long tradition of irresponsible conduct becomes a nuclear weapons state. This is a moment of truth. It is still not too late to prevent it from happening. I thank you again for your gracious hospitality and for our discussions. I look forward to continue working with you, Mr. President.Thank you very much.
BUSH: We'll take two questions a side.
QUESTION: You mentioned that the West Bank plan could be an important step. Doesn't this sweep away the U.S. principle of a negotiated two-state solution? And should the Palestinian side approve any plan that would establish Israel's final borders?
BUSH: You just heard the prime minister say that he's going to exhaust all options to negotiate, that he wants to reach out a hand to President Abbas. And I agree. As I said in my opening statement, that the best solution is one in which there is a negotiated final status. And we spent ways -- we spent some time discussing about how it's important to get a Palestinian president to the table. And the prime minister says he looks forward to discussing the issue. And so our preferred option, of course, is there to be a negotiated settlement.
BUSH: On the other hand, as the prime minister said, that if he is unable to find a partner in peace, if nothing can go forward, he is willing to think about ways to advance the process forward. And in order to solve this problem, there needs to be, you know, willingness to take the lead and creativity and the desire to follow through on the vision. The most important aspect about peace is to have a vision for peace. And I appreciate the prime minister's vision of two states, side by side, two democratic states side by side in peace. That's possible. And so, what I come away from the meeting with is that the prime minister, one, has a vision; two, willing to reach out to determine whether or not that vision exists with the Palestinian president, which I think it does; three, is willing to work to see whether or not it is possible for two sides to come together; and, if not, is still willing to consider other ways to move the process forward. That's, to me, a very positive statement.
QUESTION: You said you wanted to hear more. Are you really, then, worried about this plan?
BUSH: I don't know. The only thing that worries me about the plan is that Hamas has said they want to destroy Israel. And the reason that worries me is how can you have two states side by side in peace if one of the partners does not recognize the other state's right to exist?
BUSH: And it's illogical for somebody to say, "I'm for a state side by side with another state and yet I don't want the state to exist. And so we spent time talking about Hamas. And I assured the prime minister that our position is steady and strong; that Hamas must change. Now, we care about the Palestinian people. And I say "we" -- both of us; he can speak for himself on this issue -- but we are trying to set up a mechanism that supports the Palestinian people. Our beef is not with the Palestinian people; our beef with the government -- that group in the government that says they don't recognize Israel. And so the United States, we're working with the Europeans -- Condi's people in the State Department are working with the Europeans to come up with a mechanism to get food and medicine and aid to the Palestinians.You may want to comment on it yourself, Mr. Prime Minister.
OLMERT; Thank you, Mr. President.
Indeed, the government Sunday decided to spend 50 million shekels buying medical equipment -- 50 million shekels; about $11 million -- for the time being, to buy medical equipment and drugs needed for the hospitals in Gaza. And, as I said during the cabinet meeting, we will spend any amount of money needed in order to safe lives of innocent Palestinians suffering from the indifference of their government. We will not hesitate to do it. We will use the revenues that we have collected, and more if necessary.We will make arrangements, together with our friends, so that the supplies will arrive directly to those who need them. This is a humanitarian commitment. We are absolutely committed to help innocent people that suffer from the brutality and the intransigence of their own government. And we will continue to do it at all times.
Thank you, Mr. President.
QUESTION: Mr. Prime Minister, are you satisfied from what you have learned out of your meeting with the president with regard of the Iranian issue? And what's your message to the Israeli public about this issue?
QUESTION: And, Mr. President, with your permission, there is a military option from your point of view to solve the threat of the Iranian problem, their work on -- to gain nuclear weapons?
OLMERT: Well, the Iranian issue was discussed indeed between the president and myself, and we will continue to talk about it later. Obviously, there is a major threat posed, as I've said already and the president said, by the Iranians and their attempt to have nonconventional capabilities and also to build up delivery systems and the ballistic missiles that can hit major centers all across Europe, not just in the Middle East. This is something that needs to be stopped. We discussed this issue at length and there is a total agreement and understanding between the president and myself that there is a need to stop it. And we reviewed the different ways how to do it and I'm very satisfied with what I heard from the president and -- on what we agree that we will continue to do in order to achieve this goal.
BUSH: Our primary objective is to solve this problem diplomatically.
BUSH: I've told the American people that I will, on all issues, will try diplomacy first and exhaust diplomacy. And explain to the prime minister that -- about our diplomatic efforts, the most important thing in diplomacy is that there be a shared goal. In other words, you have to have a common objective, a common goal, in order to get people to come together around you.
And now we have got a common goal throughout most of the world, and that is: Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. And that's important. And we are now working the diplomatic front around that goal. We have a variety of options, one of which, of course, is the United Nations Security Council, if the Iranians aren't willing to show progress toward that goal.We're working very closely with what's called the E.U.-3, that's Germany, England and France. And I've been pleased and Secretary of State Rice has been pleased about their willingness to stay tough on the goal, of achieving the goal. It's -- you know, sometimes when you've got a variety of negotiating parties, it's easier for one -- a nontransparent negotiator -- to pick off a weak link.
BUSH: And yet, they have been firm. And that's important for Israel to know. It's important for me to praise our partners for that strength of purpose. Obviously, there's other parties we have to work with, including Russia and China. In other words, you can't get anything out of the U.N. Security Council unless there is an agreement that the Iranians are not negotiating in good faith and aren't willing to go forward. And so we're sending a lot of time working with our Russian friends, in particular to make it clear to them that Iran is showing no good faith. And one of the interesting issues that the Iranians have tossed out in this debate is that they believe they have the sovereign right for civilian nuclear power.
And my position has been: Fine, you just don't get to enrich the fuel necessary for the plant.
And so we provided, I thought, a very interesting opportunity for them to say, if you want civilian nuclear power, you can have your plant and the international consortium will provide the fuel for the plant and we'll pick up the spent fuel from the plant. And this very realistic and reasonable approach has been rejected by the Iranians. And so I say to our friends in our consortium. I'm not so sure these people really do want a solution. And, therefore, let us make sure that we're willing to be working together in the U.N. Security Council.
BUSH: So that's where we are. We're headed -- we're on the cusp of going to the Security Council. And I repeat to your question: Obviously we'd like to solve this issue peacefully and diplomatically. And the more the Iranians refuse to negotiate in good faith, more countries are beginning to realize that we must continue to work together.
QUESTION: If we can switch to Iraq, sir.
BUSH: Iraq, OK.
QUESTION: Iraq: I know that this is something you're leaving up to your commanders, but from what you've heard from your commanders, how confident are you that you can start drawing down troops by the end of the year?
BUSH: First of all, we are making progress in achieving our objective of training the Iraqis to take the fight to the enemy. And the reason I know that is because I talk to our commanders quite frequently. And we're making good political progress, as the world saw in the formation of a unity government.The government has yet to get their full cabinet in place, although we think that'll happen relatively quickly. And then this sovereign government is going to assess their security situation and their security forces and their needs and work with our commanders.
BUSH: We haven't gotten to the point yet with the new government that's sitting down with our commanders to come up with a joint way forward. However, having said that, this is a new chapter in our relationship. In other words, we're now able to take a new assessment about the needs necessary for the Iraqis. And when I get that report from our commanders, I'll share it with others and you.(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Mr. President, can I just add...
BUSH: Please.
QUESTION: The U.S. has the most powerful military in the world, and they have been unable to bring down the violence in any substantial way in several of the provinces. So how can you expect the Iraqis to do that?
BUSH: If one were to measure progress on the number of suiciders, if that's your definition of success, I think it gives -- I think it will -- I think it obscures the steady, incremental march toward democracy we're seeing. In other words, it's very difficult. You could have the most powerful army in the world. Ask the Israelis what it's like to try to stop suiciders. It is a difficult task to stop suicide bombers. But in the end, that's one of the -- the main weapon of the enemy: the capacity to destroy innocent life with a suicider.
BUSH: So I view progress as: Is there a political process going forward that's convincing disaffected Sunnis, for example, to participate? Is there a unity government that says it's best for all of us to work together to achieve a common objective, which is democracy? Are we able to meet the needs of the 12 million people that defied the car bombers? Because to me, that's success. Trying to stop suiciders, which we're doing a pretty good job of, on occasion, is difficult to do. And what the Iraqis are going to have to eventually do is convince those who are conducting suiciders who are not inspired by Al Qaida, for example, to realize there's a peaceful tomorrow. And those who are being inspired by Al Qaida, we're just going to have to stay on the hunt and bring Al Qaida to justice. And our army can do that and is doing that right now.
QUESTION: Mr. President, the prime minister just said that the settlement blocks, the major population centers, will be part of Israel, annexed to Israel in the future. Do you support that? Would the United States sanction that? And, Mr. Prime Minister, can you give us some assessment of the time that you are willing to wait for the emergence of a Palestinian partner?
BUSH: My answer to your question is: Refer to my April 14th, 2004, letter. I believed it when I wrote it, and I still believe it.(LAUGHTER)(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Aware that I wrote the letter or aware that I believe what I wrote?(LAUGHTER)
OLMERT: First of all, I want to emphasize again what I said before and what I said before the elections and immediately after the elections in Israel and when my government was inaugurated in the Knesset just a couple of weeks ago. I said that we will make a genuine effort to negotiate with the Palestinian side ion the basis of the road map which is the framework for future negotiations toward, hopefully, a peace agreement between us and the Palestinians.
I meant precisely what I said. I will make every possible effort. And in order to examine it carefully and seriously, I will certainly meet with the elected president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.
We haven't yet decided about the timing. It will be in the near future. And I will do everything that I can in order to help create the necessary circumstances for such negotiations to take place; providing, of course, that the Palestinian partner will have to, not just to make a public commitment, but being able to deliver on the basic requirements of the road map and the quartet decisions -- namely to recognize the state of Israel and its right to exist as a Jewish state, to unarm the terrorists organizations and to implement all the obligations of the agreement signed between the state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
OLMERT: So we will make an effort. And I say time and again that we accept the sincerity of Mahmoud Abbas as the elected president of the Palestinian Authority. He's genuine. He's sincere. And we hope that he will have the power to be able to meet the requirements necessary for negotiations between us and the Palestinians. How soon it will be? The sooner the better. I don't want to prejudge it at this point. I think it's too early. And I didn't come with a timetable to meet with the president of the United States. We shared our observations.
I entirely agree with the vision of the president as it was outlined so brilliantly in the famous speech in June of 2002, which really set the course for all the developments that took place in the Middle East since then and created the possibility for ultimately the disengagement, which was a turning point in the history of the Middle East.
OLMERT: And we are grateful to the president for the courage that he manifested then in presenting this outline and in being the first to support the disengagement and carry on in spite of the difficulties and the skepticism and the question marks posed by different countries at the beginning. Most of them joined in later.So we are anxious to have negotiations and we will look and find every possible avenue to help establish a process of negotiations on the basis of these conditions. However, as I said, we will not wait indefinitely.
If we will reach the conclusion that in spite of all these efforts it is impossible to implement the principles of the road map, through a negotiating process, we will look for other ways to implement these principles and to ultimately create a situation where there are secured borders for the state of Israel with the population centers in the territories as part of the state of Israel and with a contiguous territory that will allow the Palestinians to establish their own Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel. And hopefully this is something that will happen within the next three to four years.
OLMERT: Again, I am grateful to the president for the efforts that he was making and for his willingness to examine, together with me, these new ideas -- as he called them, "bold" ideas -- in the event that all other options will not be possible.
Thank you.
BUSH: Good job.
END
Source: CQ Transcriptions © 2006, Congressional Quarterly Inc., All Rights Reserved
Tuesday, May 23, 2006; 5:54 PM
SPEAKERS: GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES EHUD OLMERT, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL
BUSH: Thank you.
Mr. Prime Minister, welcome.
I'm particularly pleased to welcome Mrs. Olmert to the White House as well. Thanks for coming.
The prime minister and I have known each other since 1998, when he was the mayor of Jerusalem and I was the governor of Texas. And I remember you greeting me in your office there and you probably thought you were going to be the prime minister. I wasn't sure if I was going to be the president.(LAUGHTER)
We've just had a really productive meeting. We reaffirmed the deep and abiding ties between Israel and the United States. And those ties include our commitment to democracy and our strong belief that everybody has the right to worship freely. The ties include growing trade and economic relationships. The ties include important educational exchange programs that allow Israeli students to study at American colleges and universities and American students to travel and study in Israel.
In our meeting, the prime minister and I recalled the great contributions to peace made by Ariel Sharon. I asked the prime minister to convey my very best wishes to Ariel Sharon's sons.
Prime Minister Olmert and I discussed peace and security in the Middle East, which the people of Israel seek and the American people support.In 2002, I outlined my vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.
BUSH: And Mr. Olmert told me that he and his government share this vision.
The international community seeks to realize this goal through the road map, which calls for a comprehensive settlement that resolves all outstanding issues between Israelis and Palestinians.I believe, and Prime Minister Olmert agrees, that a negotiated final status agreement best serves both the Israelis and the Palestinians and the cause of peace.
Palestinian Authority President Abbas favors and speaks out for peace and negotiations, yet the Hamas-led Palestinian government does not. Hamas needs to make a strategic choice for peace.
The United States and the international community have made clear that Hamas must recognize Israel's right to exist, must abandon terror and must accept all previous agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. No country can be expected to make peace with those who deny its right to exist and who use terror to attack its population.
BUSH: Today, Prime Minister Olmert shared with me some of his ideas. I would call them bold ideas. These ideas could lead to a two-state solution if a pathway to progress on the road map is not opened in the period ahead. His ideas include the removal of most Israeli settlements except for the major Israeli population centers in the West Bank. This idea would follow Prime Minister Sharon's decision to remove all settlements in Gaza and several in the West Bank.I look forward to learning more about the prime minister's ideas.
While any final status agreement will be only achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes, and no party should prejudice the outcome of negotiations on a final status agreement, the prime minister's ideas could be an important step toward the peace we both support.
I'm encouraged by his constructive efforts to find ways to move the peace process forward.
And, finally, the prime minister and I shared our concerns about the Iranian regime's nuclear weapons ambitions. The United States and the international community have made our common position clear: We're determined that the Iranian regime must not gain nuclear weapons. I told the prime minister what I've stated publicly before: Israel is a close friend and ally of the United States. And in the event of any attack on Israel, the United States will come to Israel's aid.
BUSH: The United States is strongly committed and I am strongly committed to the security of Israel as a vibrant Jewish state. I look forward to our continuing discussions after this press conference. I'm not sure the delegations realize this yet, but we're going to shed ourselves of our delegations and the prime minister and I are going to go up to the residence and sit down and have a continued dialogue. And if we decide to brief our delegations on what we discussed, we will do so. But, if not, they're going to have to guess.(LAUGHTER) And then I'm looking forward to dinner. Welcome.
OLMERT: Thank you, Mr. President.
I thank you for your kind invitation to visit Washington and for the opportunity to meet with you in discuss the main issues in our common agenda. Our meeting was enlightening. And I look forward to working closely with you in the coming years to deepen the friendship,understanding and bilateral ties between the United States and Israel. I also recall our meeting in the city hall when you and I were strolling around the beautiful building at the terrace of the sixth floor watching the walls of the city of Jerusalem.
OLMERT: At that time, you were the governor; I was the mayor. And I think none of us thought that the day would come that I would have the honor and the privilege of being hosted by you as president of the United States and prime minister of Israel. I could sense, then, your deep connection to the Holy Land and your friendship and commitment to the state of Israel.
I must say, Mr. President, that my instincts did not fail me. I and the entire people of Israel appreciate your true friendship and unwavering commitment to Israel's security and its well-being as a vibrant Jewish state.
Your involvement in the Middle East and personal contribution to the effort toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been significant. The vision which you outlined in your historic speech of June 2002 of two democratic states living side by side in peace and security is the basis of any progress toward a solution in this region. Your unreserved support of the disengagement plan and your letter of April 14th, 2004, to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- and I join you in praying for his recovery -- were the basis for the success of its implementation.
OLMERT: What you immediately recognized to be a historic step was later adopted by all those who were skeptical in the beginning. I intend to exhaust every possibility to promote peace with the Palestinians according to the road map, and I extend my hand in peace to Mahmoud Abbas, the elected president of the Palestinian Authority. I hope he will take the necessary steps which he committed to in order to move forward. Unfortunately, the rise of Hamas, a terrorist organization which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and regards terrorism as a legitimate tool, severely undermines the possibility of promoting a genuine peace process.
As you stated, Mr. President, the Palestinian Authority headed by Hamas government must abandon the path of terrorism, dismantle the terror infrastructure, honor agreements and recognize Israel's right to exist.
By doing so, they will find us a willing partner in peace. However, we will not enter into any kind of partnership with a party which refuses to recognize our right to live in peace and security.
Despite our sincere desire for negotiations, we cannot wait indefinitely for the Palestinians to change. We cannot be held hostage by a terrorist entity which refuses to change or to promote dialogue. If we come to the conclusion that no progress is possible, we will be compelled to try a different route.
OLMERT: I have presented to the president ideas which I believe could help advance his vision and prevent a political stalemate. According to these ideas, we will remove most of the settlements which are not part of the major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria.
The settlements within the population centers would remain under Israeli control and become part of the state of Israel as part of the final status agreement. This process of realignment would reduce friction between Israelis and Palestinians, ensure territorial contiguity for the Palestinians, and guarantee Israel's security as a Jewish state with the borders it desires.
The implementation of these ideas would only be possible with the comprehensive support of the United States and the international community. I anticipate working with you to explore ways to advance this.
We discussed the Iranian issue. The Iranian regime, which calls for Israel's destruction, openly denies the Holocaust and views the United States as its enemy, makes every effort to implement its fundamentalist religious ideologies and blatantly disregards the demands of the international community.The Iranian threat is not only a threat to Israel; it is a threat to the stability of the Middle East and the entire world. And it could mark the beginning of a dangerous and irresponsible arms race in the Middle East. Mr. President, we appreciate your efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, including through the U.N. Security Council.
OLMERT: They are of crucial importance.The international community cannot tolerate a situation where a regime with a radical ideology and a long tradition of irresponsible conduct becomes a nuclear weapons state. This is a moment of truth. It is still not too late to prevent it from happening. I thank you again for your gracious hospitality and for our discussions. I look forward to continue working with you, Mr. President.Thank you very much.
BUSH: We'll take two questions a side.
QUESTION: You mentioned that the West Bank plan could be an important step. Doesn't this sweep away the U.S. principle of a negotiated two-state solution? And should the Palestinian side approve any plan that would establish Israel's final borders?
BUSH: You just heard the prime minister say that he's going to exhaust all options to negotiate, that he wants to reach out a hand to President Abbas. And I agree. As I said in my opening statement, that the best solution is one in which there is a negotiated final status. And we spent ways -- we spent some time discussing about how it's important to get a Palestinian president to the table. And the prime minister says he looks forward to discussing the issue. And so our preferred option, of course, is there to be a negotiated settlement.
BUSH: On the other hand, as the prime minister said, that if he is unable to find a partner in peace, if nothing can go forward, he is willing to think about ways to advance the process forward. And in order to solve this problem, there needs to be, you know, willingness to take the lead and creativity and the desire to follow through on the vision. The most important aspect about peace is to have a vision for peace. And I appreciate the prime minister's vision of two states, side by side, two democratic states side by side in peace. That's possible. And so, what I come away from the meeting with is that the prime minister, one, has a vision; two, willing to reach out to determine whether or not that vision exists with the Palestinian president, which I think it does; three, is willing to work to see whether or not it is possible for two sides to come together; and, if not, is still willing to consider other ways to move the process forward. That's, to me, a very positive statement.
QUESTION: You said you wanted to hear more. Are you really, then, worried about this plan?
BUSH: I don't know. The only thing that worries me about the plan is that Hamas has said they want to destroy Israel. And the reason that worries me is how can you have two states side by side in peace if one of the partners does not recognize the other state's right to exist?
BUSH: And it's illogical for somebody to say, "I'm for a state side by side with another state and yet I don't want the state to exist. And so we spent time talking about Hamas. And I assured the prime minister that our position is steady and strong; that Hamas must change. Now, we care about the Palestinian people. And I say "we" -- both of us; he can speak for himself on this issue -- but we are trying to set up a mechanism that supports the Palestinian people. Our beef is not with the Palestinian people; our beef with the government -- that group in the government that says they don't recognize Israel. And so the United States, we're working with the Europeans -- Condi's people in the State Department are working with the Europeans to come up with a mechanism to get food and medicine and aid to the Palestinians.You may want to comment on it yourself, Mr. Prime Minister.
OLMERT; Thank you, Mr. President.
Indeed, the government Sunday decided to spend 50 million shekels buying medical equipment -- 50 million shekels; about $11 million -- for the time being, to buy medical equipment and drugs needed for the hospitals in Gaza. And, as I said during the cabinet meeting, we will spend any amount of money needed in order to safe lives of innocent Palestinians suffering from the indifference of their government. We will not hesitate to do it. We will use the revenues that we have collected, and more if necessary.We will make arrangements, together with our friends, so that the supplies will arrive directly to those who need them. This is a humanitarian commitment. We are absolutely committed to help innocent people that suffer from the brutality and the intransigence of their own government. And we will continue to do it at all times.
Thank you, Mr. President.
QUESTION: Mr. Prime Minister, are you satisfied from what you have learned out of your meeting with the president with regard of the Iranian issue? And what's your message to the Israeli public about this issue?
QUESTION: And, Mr. President, with your permission, there is a military option from your point of view to solve the threat of the Iranian problem, their work on -- to gain nuclear weapons?
OLMERT: Well, the Iranian issue was discussed indeed between the president and myself, and we will continue to talk about it later. Obviously, there is a major threat posed, as I've said already and the president said, by the Iranians and their attempt to have nonconventional capabilities and also to build up delivery systems and the ballistic missiles that can hit major centers all across Europe, not just in the Middle East. This is something that needs to be stopped. We discussed this issue at length and there is a total agreement and understanding between the president and myself that there is a need to stop it. And we reviewed the different ways how to do it and I'm very satisfied with what I heard from the president and -- on what we agree that we will continue to do in order to achieve this goal.
BUSH: Our primary objective is to solve this problem diplomatically.
BUSH: I've told the American people that I will, on all issues, will try diplomacy first and exhaust diplomacy. And explain to the prime minister that -- about our diplomatic efforts, the most important thing in diplomacy is that there be a shared goal. In other words, you have to have a common objective, a common goal, in order to get people to come together around you.
And now we have got a common goal throughout most of the world, and that is: Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. And that's important. And we are now working the diplomatic front around that goal. We have a variety of options, one of which, of course, is the United Nations Security Council, if the Iranians aren't willing to show progress toward that goal.We're working very closely with what's called the E.U.-3, that's Germany, England and France. And I've been pleased and Secretary of State Rice has been pleased about their willingness to stay tough on the goal, of achieving the goal. It's -- you know, sometimes when you've got a variety of negotiating parties, it's easier for one -- a nontransparent negotiator -- to pick off a weak link.
BUSH: And yet, they have been firm. And that's important for Israel to know. It's important for me to praise our partners for that strength of purpose. Obviously, there's other parties we have to work with, including Russia and China. In other words, you can't get anything out of the U.N. Security Council unless there is an agreement that the Iranians are not negotiating in good faith and aren't willing to go forward. And so we're sending a lot of time working with our Russian friends, in particular to make it clear to them that Iran is showing no good faith. And one of the interesting issues that the Iranians have tossed out in this debate is that they believe they have the sovereign right for civilian nuclear power.
And my position has been: Fine, you just don't get to enrich the fuel necessary for the plant.
And so we provided, I thought, a very interesting opportunity for them to say, if you want civilian nuclear power, you can have your plant and the international consortium will provide the fuel for the plant and we'll pick up the spent fuel from the plant. And this very realistic and reasonable approach has been rejected by the Iranians. And so I say to our friends in our consortium. I'm not so sure these people really do want a solution. And, therefore, let us make sure that we're willing to be working together in the U.N. Security Council.
BUSH: So that's where we are. We're headed -- we're on the cusp of going to the Security Council. And I repeat to your question: Obviously we'd like to solve this issue peacefully and diplomatically. And the more the Iranians refuse to negotiate in good faith, more countries are beginning to realize that we must continue to work together.
QUESTION: If we can switch to Iraq, sir.
BUSH: Iraq, OK.
QUESTION: Iraq: I know that this is something you're leaving up to your commanders, but from what you've heard from your commanders, how confident are you that you can start drawing down troops by the end of the year?
BUSH: First of all, we are making progress in achieving our objective of training the Iraqis to take the fight to the enemy. And the reason I know that is because I talk to our commanders quite frequently. And we're making good political progress, as the world saw in the formation of a unity government.The government has yet to get their full cabinet in place, although we think that'll happen relatively quickly. And then this sovereign government is going to assess their security situation and their security forces and their needs and work with our commanders.
BUSH: We haven't gotten to the point yet with the new government that's sitting down with our commanders to come up with a joint way forward. However, having said that, this is a new chapter in our relationship. In other words, we're now able to take a new assessment about the needs necessary for the Iraqis. And when I get that report from our commanders, I'll share it with others and you.(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Mr. President, can I just add...
BUSH: Please.
QUESTION: The U.S. has the most powerful military in the world, and they have been unable to bring down the violence in any substantial way in several of the provinces. So how can you expect the Iraqis to do that?
BUSH: If one were to measure progress on the number of suiciders, if that's your definition of success, I think it gives -- I think it will -- I think it obscures the steady, incremental march toward democracy we're seeing. In other words, it's very difficult. You could have the most powerful army in the world. Ask the Israelis what it's like to try to stop suiciders. It is a difficult task to stop suicide bombers. But in the end, that's one of the -- the main weapon of the enemy: the capacity to destroy innocent life with a suicider.
BUSH: So I view progress as: Is there a political process going forward that's convincing disaffected Sunnis, for example, to participate? Is there a unity government that says it's best for all of us to work together to achieve a common objective, which is democracy? Are we able to meet the needs of the 12 million people that defied the car bombers? Because to me, that's success. Trying to stop suiciders, which we're doing a pretty good job of, on occasion, is difficult to do. And what the Iraqis are going to have to eventually do is convince those who are conducting suiciders who are not inspired by Al Qaida, for example, to realize there's a peaceful tomorrow. And those who are being inspired by Al Qaida, we're just going to have to stay on the hunt and bring Al Qaida to justice. And our army can do that and is doing that right now.
QUESTION: Mr. President, the prime minister just said that the settlement blocks, the major population centers, will be part of Israel, annexed to Israel in the future. Do you support that? Would the United States sanction that? And, Mr. Prime Minister, can you give us some assessment of the time that you are willing to wait for the emergence of a Palestinian partner?
BUSH: My answer to your question is: Refer to my April 14th, 2004, letter. I believed it when I wrote it, and I still believe it.(LAUGHTER)(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Aware that I wrote the letter or aware that I believe what I wrote?(LAUGHTER)
OLMERT: First of all, I want to emphasize again what I said before and what I said before the elections and immediately after the elections in Israel and when my government was inaugurated in the Knesset just a couple of weeks ago. I said that we will make a genuine effort to negotiate with the Palestinian side ion the basis of the road map which is the framework for future negotiations toward, hopefully, a peace agreement between us and the Palestinians.
I meant precisely what I said. I will make every possible effort. And in order to examine it carefully and seriously, I will certainly meet with the elected president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.
We haven't yet decided about the timing. It will be in the near future. And I will do everything that I can in order to help create the necessary circumstances for such negotiations to take place; providing, of course, that the Palestinian partner will have to, not just to make a public commitment, but being able to deliver on the basic requirements of the road map and the quartet decisions -- namely to recognize the state of Israel and its right to exist as a Jewish state, to unarm the terrorists organizations and to implement all the obligations of the agreement signed between the state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
OLMERT: So we will make an effort. And I say time and again that we accept the sincerity of Mahmoud Abbas as the elected president of the Palestinian Authority. He's genuine. He's sincere. And we hope that he will have the power to be able to meet the requirements necessary for negotiations between us and the Palestinians. How soon it will be? The sooner the better. I don't want to prejudge it at this point. I think it's too early. And I didn't come with a timetable to meet with the president of the United States. We shared our observations.
I entirely agree with the vision of the president as it was outlined so brilliantly in the famous speech in June of 2002, which really set the course for all the developments that took place in the Middle East since then and created the possibility for ultimately the disengagement, which was a turning point in the history of the Middle East.
OLMERT: And we are grateful to the president for the courage that he manifested then in presenting this outline and in being the first to support the disengagement and carry on in spite of the difficulties and the skepticism and the question marks posed by different countries at the beginning. Most of them joined in later.So we are anxious to have negotiations and we will look and find every possible avenue to help establish a process of negotiations on the basis of these conditions. However, as I said, we will not wait indefinitely.
If we will reach the conclusion that in spite of all these efforts it is impossible to implement the principles of the road map, through a negotiating process, we will look for other ways to implement these principles and to ultimately create a situation where there are secured borders for the state of Israel with the population centers in the territories as part of the state of Israel and with a contiguous territory that will allow the Palestinians to establish their own Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel. And hopefully this is something that will happen within the next three to four years.
OLMERT: Again, I am grateful to the president for the efforts that he was making and for his willingness to examine, together with me, these new ideas -- as he called them, "bold" ideas -- in the event that all other options will not be possible.
Thank you.
BUSH: Good job.
END
Source: CQ Transcriptions © 2006, Congressional Quarterly Inc., All Rights Reserved
Sunday, May 21, 2006
TRUE PRINCE OF PEACE JESUS
HES RIGHT IN THIS STORY GOD HAS THE LAST SAY. HIS WORD WILL COME TO PASS NO MATTER HOW MANY ARABS MURDER ISRAELIS. LIKE I SAY COME LORD JESUS TRUE PRINCE OF PEACE AND OUR MIGHTY GOD TO RULE FROM YOUR THRONE IN JERUSALEM LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS WILL COME TO PASS.
Forum: God has spoken Published May 21, 2006The
Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com
The new Palestinian leadership must use its pragmatism and belief in God to alter the destiny of its people and walk them to the promised land" because they have suffered enough. The long history of the Holy Land attests to the fact no other place has seen so much glory and despair or touched the souls of so many. It has shaped the destiny of its inhabitants and witnessed the rise and fall of many ancient empires. For nearly a century, Israelis and Palestinians have been at war. During the time they have inflicted terrible wounds on each other. Governed by misguided leaders, the two peoples have acted out of blind hatred and animosity, poisoning generation after generation defying the very premise of the religious connection of both peoples to the land.
So its sacred soil is defiled. Every time I travel to the Holy Land, I visit the Haram Al-Sharif, the Temple Mount. There I linger, watching scores of Muslims flock to the great Golden Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa Mosque. They come to pray to Allah for his mercy and compassion and to pay homage to his messenger Mohammed. I make my way down the steps to the Western Wall of the Temple (known as the Wailing Wall), destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 75. Thousands of Jews visit this entrancing edifice daily to relive history or watch it unfold. Some come to pray; others to seek salvation; still others, to repent. Some visit and ponder; others pray for absolution. Some are on a simple human quest, while others gape in wonder, spellbound by the imposing wall and what it means to them. Across an invisible, deepening emotional divide, Arabs and Jews weep silently for the loss of loved ones, victims of merciless violent conflict, and pray for an end to the tragedy that has befallen them. Separate, yet together in their yearning, both peoples pray for peace.
Here they are, the holiest shrines for Jews and Muslims, juxtaposed, with no possibility of either side altering anything in these sacred settings. Every stone, every gesture or movement has the same message: There is no escape from cohabitation, no way out of coexistence. Separate but inseparable, this is the destiny of Jews and Muslims. The echoes of Arab and Jewish prayers
mingle in the air, reaching out to the same God. The dream of Israelis to live in their ancient homeland and that of Palestinians to have a state of their own do not cancel each other.
Rather, they provide the sole basis for sharing the land equitably, though under separate rule. The ancient world thrust Israelis and Palestinians together. Now, in our own time, the children of Abraham have returned home to join their cousins. This is neither a historical accident nor an aberration of time and space. The Wall and the Dome of the Rock summoned them together long before the first Palestinian youth and Israeli child died in the current inferno.The radicals on both sides must remember that the campaign to dislodge each other from the land will fail because Israeli-Palestinian coexistence is a historic reality anchored in a religious promise more powerful than blind fanaticism and deeper than their perverted convictions.
How many more deaths of Israelis and Palestinians must God witness in silence? How much more blood must spill? How much more destruction and despair must these two peoples endure? How could this land, the cradle of three great religions, have become the killing fields for its sons and daughters, victims of extremism, delusion, and the tragic denial of each others' rights? Hamas can kill another 100 or 1,000 Israelis; thousands of Palestinians can be expelled or shot to death, but then what? Israelis and Palestinians will be facing each other. As both sides reposition themselves, they will talk with one another, simply because there is no other option. Except the hatred will run even deeper, and mutual fear and suspicion will extinguish the last vestiges of trust, taint every gesture and action. The loss of human live and the sustained suffering will have taken their toll, further scarring hearts and minds, making negotiations increasingly intractable. Israel does not need Hamas' recognition or acceptance of previous agreements with the Palestinian Authority.
If Hamas insist on violent resistance, the Palestinians will unfortunately suffer far more disproportionately than Israelis ever will. Israel is a reality whose existence is beyond the capacity of Hamas to alter by any means, including force. Only by recognizing Israel and adhering to existing internationally accepted agreements can the Palestinians secure a place under the sun based on a two-state solution. The majority, the mainstream Israelis and Palestinians, believe in coexistence, believe in their mutual right to live on the same land,
believe they share the same destiny and must live and let live to make the Holy Land truly a land of milk and honey. In this holy setting, a breakthrough vision is needed to create a larger promise. The salvation of the souls of both peoples and the redemption of the soil must be the task at hand. If religious teachings and practice ardently invoked in support of Palestinian historic rights have any bearing, then God has already spoken.
ALON BEN-MEIR Professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University and is the Middle East Project Director at the World Policy Institute, New York.
Forum: God has spoken Published May 21, 2006The
Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com
The new Palestinian leadership must use its pragmatism and belief in God to alter the destiny of its people and walk them to the promised land" because they have suffered enough. The long history of the Holy Land attests to the fact no other place has seen so much glory and despair or touched the souls of so many. It has shaped the destiny of its inhabitants and witnessed the rise and fall of many ancient empires. For nearly a century, Israelis and Palestinians have been at war. During the time they have inflicted terrible wounds on each other. Governed by misguided leaders, the two peoples have acted out of blind hatred and animosity, poisoning generation after generation defying the very premise of the religious connection of both peoples to the land.
So its sacred soil is defiled. Every time I travel to the Holy Land, I visit the Haram Al-Sharif, the Temple Mount. There I linger, watching scores of Muslims flock to the great Golden Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa Mosque. They come to pray to Allah for his mercy and compassion and to pay homage to his messenger Mohammed. I make my way down the steps to the Western Wall of the Temple (known as the Wailing Wall), destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 75. Thousands of Jews visit this entrancing edifice daily to relive history or watch it unfold. Some come to pray; others to seek salvation; still others, to repent. Some visit and ponder; others pray for absolution. Some are on a simple human quest, while others gape in wonder, spellbound by the imposing wall and what it means to them. Across an invisible, deepening emotional divide, Arabs and Jews weep silently for the loss of loved ones, victims of merciless violent conflict, and pray for an end to the tragedy that has befallen them. Separate, yet together in their yearning, both peoples pray for peace.
Here they are, the holiest shrines for Jews and Muslims, juxtaposed, with no possibility of either side altering anything in these sacred settings. Every stone, every gesture or movement has the same message: There is no escape from cohabitation, no way out of coexistence. Separate but inseparable, this is the destiny of Jews and Muslims. The echoes of Arab and Jewish prayers
mingle in the air, reaching out to the same God. The dream of Israelis to live in their ancient homeland and that of Palestinians to have a state of their own do not cancel each other.
Rather, they provide the sole basis for sharing the land equitably, though under separate rule. The ancient world thrust Israelis and Palestinians together. Now, in our own time, the children of Abraham have returned home to join their cousins. This is neither a historical accident nor an aberration of time and space. The Wall and the Dome of the Rock summoned them together long before the first Palestinian youth and Israeli child died in the current inferno.The radicals on both sides must remember that the campaign to dislodge each other from the land will fail because Israeli-Palestinian coexistence is a historic reality anchored in a religious promise more powerful than blind fanaticism and deeper than their perverted convictions.
How many more deaths of Israelis and Palestinians must God witness in silence? How much more blood must spill? How much more destruction and despair must these two peoples endure? How could this land, the cradle of three great religions, have become the killing fields for its sons and daughters, victims of extremism, delusion, and the tragic denial of each others' rights? Hamas can kill another 100 or 1,000 Israelis; thousands of Palestinians can be expelled or shot to death, but then what? Israelis and Palestinians will be facing each other. As both sides reposition themselves, they will talk with one another, simply because there is no other option. Except the hatred will run even deeper, and mutual fear and suspicion will extinguish the last vestiges of trust, taint every gesture and action. The loss of human live and the sustained suffering will have taken their toll, further scarring hearts and minds, making negotiations increasingly intractable. Israel does not need Hamas' recognition or acceptance of previous agreements with the Palestinian Authority.
If Hamas insist on violent resistance, the Palestinians will unfortunately suffer far more disproportionately than Israelis ever will. Israel is a reality whose existence is beyond the capacity of Hamas to alter by any means, including force. Only by recognizing Israel and adhering to existing internationally accepted agreements can the Palestinians secure a place under the sun based on a two-state solution. The majority, the mainstream Israelis and Palestinians, believe in coexistence, believe in their mutual right to live on the same land,
believe they share the same destiny and must live and let live to make the Holy Land truly a land of milk and honey. In this holy setting, a breakthrough vision is needed to create a larger promise. The salvation of the souls of both peoples and the redemption of the soil must be the task at hand. If religious teachings and practice ardently invoked in support of Palestinian historic rights have any bearing, then God has already spoken.
ALON BEN-MEIR Professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University and is the Middle East Project Director at the World Policy Institute, New York.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
PERETZ WANTS ISRAELIS EVICTED
Peretz wants Israelis taken off their GOD givin land. TROUBLE IS ON ITS WAY////????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. (BY ARUTZ-7 NEWS)
Peretz Orders Removal of Outposts From Judea & Samaria By Yechiel Spira and Hillel Fendel
Defense Minister Amir Peretz has signed an order declaring 12 unauthorized outposts throughout Judea and Samaria “illegal,” setting the stage for their removal. The orders to remove the unauthorized outposts were signed by Mr. Peretz’s predecessor, former Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, but he did not actualize the orders. Among the outposts slated for removal are Mitzpeh Lachish south of Hevron, Givat Assaf near Beit El, Shaked Farm, Mitzpeh Yitzhar and Yitzhar South, both near Yitzhar, Givat HaRoeh near Eli, Givat HaDegel near Karnei Shomron and Hazon David near Kiryat Arba, and Maaleh Rehavam, in eastern Gush Etzion.
The people of Maaleh Rehavam have demanded an apology from the Maariv newspaper for writing that their community is illegally located on private Arab property. "This article presents us as land thieves, a letter from the town's secretary states. "If a serious investigation had been done, as could be expected from a newspaper of your level, you would have found that the neighborhood is [a part of] the town of Nokdim, is totally located on state lands, and that the residents were even allocated land for planting and grazing. The neighborhood is in the process of being approved.
Peretz has ordered IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz to prepare the plan for the removal of the neigbhorhoods, some of which have 20 or more families. The final operational orders for their removal have been left to the discretion of Central District Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh. Aides to the defense minister explain that the removal of the outposts is in line with coalition agreements, and that their destruction is "inevitable. Security officials say the 12 communities would not be removed simultaneously, as such a move would place too large a burden on the security establishment.
In the meantime, the left-wing Peace Now organization continues to turn to the judicial system, seeking to expedite the removal of outposts. The radical group maintains that there are over 120 unauthorized Jewish residential enclaves throughout Judea and Samaria and demands that the State explain why they are not being immediately demolished.
Rockets Fired, IDF Base Struck, Jerusalem on Highest Alert By Ezra HaLevi
Six Kassam rockets were fired from Gaza at Israeli towns Thursday afternoon, landing near the city of Ashkelon and striking an IDF army base. Jerusalem is on highest alert due to concrete threats. Out of the six rockets, one landed in the sea, two fell short and landed in Gaza, and three landed south of Ashkelon. No injuries were reported, but a building in an IDF base was damaged in the attack.IDF soldiers involved in counter-terrorism operations throughout Judea and Samaria arrested ten suspects during the night. Arrests were made in and around Jenin and Bethlehem. Suspects in custody include Hamas, PFLP and Fatah Tanzim terrorists. No injuries were reported.
Interrogation of those arrested has frequently led to information that enabled security agencies to prevent terror attacks inside pre-1967 Green Line Israel. Due to intelligence information of terrorists’ intentions to carry out an attack in Jerusalem, the highest level of alert was activated Thursday morning in the capital. Checkpoints were erected at the entrances to the city and Magen David Adom ambulance drivers were told to sit inside their vehicles in preparation for the impending attack. At 2 PM, the alert level was lowered, but was raised once again shortly after 3 PM.
Wednesday, the Karni Crossing between Gaza and Israel was opened for two hours on orders from Defense Minister Amir Peretz (Labor), despite assessments by the IDF advising against it. Due to several concrete alerts regarding attacks, it was decided to close the crossing in the direction from Gaza to Israel after just an hour Thursday. However, the passage of goods continued in the opposite direction until a heightened terror threat caused it to be closed altogether at 3:30 PM.
Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman criticized the government’s behavior. “The Olmert government is trying to cover up its failure to battle against terrorism as Kassam rockets and Katyusha missiles fall on southern Israeli towns," Lieberman said. "Instead, it initiates the evacuation of outposts while completely ignoring the more than 1,000 illegal buildings within Israel’s pre-1967 borders."
Peretz Orders Removal of Outposts From Judea & Samaria By Yechiel Spira and Hillel Fendel
Defense Minister Amir Peretz has signed an order declaring 12 unauthorized outposts throughout Judea and Samaria “illegal,” setting the stage for their removal. The orders to remove the unauthorized outposts were signed by Mr. Peretz’s predecessor, former Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, but he did not actualize the orders. Among the outposts slated for removal are Mitzpeh Lachish south of Hevron, Givat Assaf near Beit El, Shaked Farm, Mitzpeh Yitzhar and Yitzhar South, both near Yitzhar, Givat HaRoeh near Eli, Givat HaDegel near Karnei Shomron and Hazon David near Kiryat Arba, and Maaleh Rehavam, in eastern Gush Etzion.
The people of Maaleh Rehavam have demanded an apology from the Maariv newspaper for writing that their community is illegally located on private Arab property. "This article presents us as land thieves, a letter from the town's secretary states. "If a serious investigation had been done, as could be expected from a newspaper of your level, you would have found that the neighborhood is [a part of] the town of Nokdim, is totally located on state lands, and that the residents were even allocated land for planting and grazing. The neighborhood is in the process of being approved.
Peretz has ordered IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz to prepare the plan for the removal of the neigbhorhoods, some of which have 20 or more families. The final operational orders for their removal have been left to the discretion of Central District Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh. Aides to the defense minister explain that the removal of the outposts is in line with coalition agreements, and that their destruction is "inevitable. Security officials say the 12 communities would not be removed simultaneously, as such a move would place too large a burden on the security establishment.
In the meantime, the left-wing Peace Now organization continues to turn to the judicial system, seeking to expedite the removal of outposts. The radical group maintains that there are over 120 unauthorized Jewish residential enclaves throughout Judea and Samaria and demands that the State explain why they are not being immediately demolished.
Rockets Fired, IDF Base Struck, Jerusalem on Highest Alert By Ezra HaLevi
Six Kassam rockets were fired from Gaza at Israeli towns Thursday afternoon, landing near the city of Ashkelon and striking an IDF army base. Jerusalem is on highest alert due to concrete threats. Out of the six rockets, one landed in the sea, two fell short and landed in Gaza, and three landed south of Ashkelon. No injuries were reported, but a building in an IDF base was damaged in the attack.IDF soldiers involved in counter-terrorism operations throughout Judea and Samaria arrested ten suspects during the night. Arrests were made in and around Jenin and Bethlehem. Suspects in custody include Hamas, PFLP and Fatah Tanzim terrorists. No injuries were reported.
Interrogation of those arrested has frequently led to information that enabled security agencies to prevent terror attacks inside pre-1967 Green Line Israel. Due to intelligence information of terrorists’ intentions to carry out an attack in Jerusalem, the highest level of alert was activated Thursday morning in the capital. Checkpoints were erected at the entrances to the city and Magen David Adom ambulance drivers were told to sit inside their vehicles in preparation for the impending attack. At 2 PM, the alert level was lowered, but was raised once again shortly after 3 PM.
Wednesday, the Karni Crossing between Gaza and Israel was opened for two hours on orders from Defense Minister Amir Peretz (Labor), despite assessments by the IDF advising against it. Due to several concrete alerts regarding attacks, it was decided to close the crossing in the direction from Gaza to Israel after just an hour Thursday. However, the passage of goods continued in the opposite direction until a heightened terror threat caused it to be closed altogether at 3:30 PM.
Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman criticized the government’s behavior. “The Olmert government is trying to cover up its failure to battle against terrorism as Kassam rockets and Katyusha missiles fall on southern Israeli towns," Lieberman said. "Instead, it initiates the evacuation of outposts while completely ignoring the more than 1,000 illegal buildings within Israel’s pre-1967 borders."
Sunday, May 14, 2006
EU CENTER STAGE IN PEACE PROCESS
The Bible says it will be the EU that makes the final peace contract between the Israelis, Arabs and many. We see it all coming together as this headline proves the Bible correct again.
Mideast spotlight on EU for Iran, Palestinian moves By Mark John Sun May 14, 5:15 AM
ET BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers will seek on Monday to agree initiatives on Iran's nuclear program and funding for the Palestinians as the EU is thrust centre-stage in Middle East diplomacy.
The United States has -- for now -- taken a back seat on both issues, entrusting the Europeans with trying to entice Tehran back to talks over its disputed nuclear program, and to work out a plan to avert a looming Palestinian economic crisis. Failure on either count would be a blow to the credibility of the 25-state bloc, whose image in the Middle East was hit by its move last month to suspend direct aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government for its failure to renounce violence.
EU foreign ministers meeting in the Belgian capital will work on a package of technical, trade and political sweeteners for Iran if it finally acts to allay Western fears it is seeking to produce an atom bomb, notably by halting uranium enrichment. Either Iran accepts the offer or risks seeing international support harden for a U.N. resolution ordering it to curb its nuclear activities or face consequences, diplomats said. The aim is to come up with a very attractive package to make it difficult for the Iranian government to refuse," said a senior envoy from one of the "EU3" group of Britain, France and Germany, who are charged with devising the offer.
Major powers failed last week to agree on a U.N. resolution to up pressure on Iran amid resistance from China and Russia, both veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council. The EU wants to have its package ready to show to a May 19 meeting in London of the five permanent Council members plus Germany.
VILLAIN OF THE PIECE?
A draft statement for Monday's EU meeting obtained by Reuters stated the bloc was ready to help Tehran develop "a safe, sustainable and proliferation-proof civilian nuclear program" while insisting it halt all enrichment activities on its soil. EU officials said it was undecided if help could include letting Western firms build nuclear power stations in Iran, an offer sources said was in an earlier package rejected by Iran last August and which also stipulated an end to enrichment. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday Iran would not accept any offer made by European states if it included a demand that Tehran stop what he called peaceful nuclear activities.
Working out how to get much-needed international aid to the Palestinians while refusing contacts with Hamas is no easier.Diplomats said the EU had not expected to be charged by the Quartet of international peace mediators with devising a plan to funnel aid through, and was now in a race against the clock to get it launched and avert a Palestinian financial collapse. Key
issues remain unsolved, including how any new fund -- known as a "temporary mechanism" -- will operate, which donors would pay into it, and what the cash will be used for. Washington opposes the fund paying Palestinian Authority salaries, the mainstay of the economy, and envoys said banks were reluctant to take part in anything which might breach a U.S. financial
blockade of the Authority.
Diplomats predict it will take weeks to finalize plans and the EU is worried its longstanding efforts to build trust in the region with annual aid worth an average 500 million euros ($644 million) in past years could now be undermined. The move to suspend aid to the PA cast us as the villain of the piece despite the fact that we are still the biggest donor," said one EU diplomat, noting that food aid, refugee support and other EU help which did not require PA links was continuing.
($1=.7767 Euro)
Mideast spotlight on EU for Iran, Palestinian moves By Mark John Sun May 14, 5:15 AM
ET BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers will seek on Monday to agree initiatives on Iran's nuclear program and funding for the Palestinians as the EU is thrust centre-stage in Middle East diplomacy.
The United States has -- for now -- taken a back seat on both issues, entrusting the Europeans with trying to entice Tehran back to talks over its disputed nuclear program, and to work out a plan to avert a looming Palestinian economic crisis. Failure on either count would be a blow to the credibility of the 25-state bloc, whose image in the Middle East was hit by its move last month to suspend direct aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government for its failure to renounce violence.
EU foreign ministers meeting in the Belgian capital will work on a package of technical, trade and political sweeteners for Iran if it finally acts to allay Western fears it is seeking to produce an atom bomb, notably by halting uranium enrichment. Either Iran accepts the offer or risks seeing international support harden for a U.N. resolution ordering it to curb its nuclear activities or face consequences, diplomats said. The aim is to come up with a very attractive package to make it difficult for the Iranian government to refuse," said a senior envoy from one of the "EU3" group of Britain, France and Germany, who are charged with devising the offer.
Major powers failed last week to agree on a U.N. resolution to up pressure on Iran amid resistance from China and Russia, both veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council. The EU wants to have its package ready to show to a May 19 meeting in London of the five permanent Council members plus Germany.
VILLAIN OF THE PIECE?
A draft statement for Monday's EU meeting obtained by Reuters stated the bloc was ready to help Tehran develop "a safe, sustainable and proliferation-proof civilian nuclear program" while insisting it halt all enrichment activities on its soil. EU officials said it was undecided if help could include letting Western firms build nuclear power stations in Iran, an offer sources said was in an earlier package rejected by Iran last August and which also stipulated an end to enrichment. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday Iran would not accept any offer made by European states if it included a demand that Tehran stop what he called peaceful nuclear activities.
Working out how to get much-needed international aid to the Palestinians while refusing contacts with Hamas is no easier.Diplomats said the EU had not expected to be charged by the Quartet of international peace mediators with devising a plan to funnel aid through, and was now in a race against the clock to get it launched and avert a Palestinian financial collapse. Key
issues remain unsolved, including how any new fund -- known as a "temporary mechanism" -- will operate, which donors would pay into it, and what the cash will be used for. Washington opposes the fund paying Palestinian Authority salaries, the mainstay of the economy, and envoys said banks were reluctant to take part in anything which might breach a U.S. financial
blockade of the Authority.
Diplomats predict it will take weeks to finalize plans and the EU is worried its longstanding efforts to build trust in the region with annual aid worth an average 500 million euros ($644 million) in past years could now be undermined. The move to suspend aid to the PA cast us as the villain of the piece despite the fact that we are still the biggest donor," said one EU diplomat, noting that food aid, refugee support and other EU help which did not require PA links was continuing.
($1=.7767 Euro)
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
ISRAEL GIVES ARABS PEACE DEADLINE
In Story 1 Israel gives the Arabs a deadline to renounce violence and to call for Israel to be a nation, without worries of being annialated. And in Story 2 US gives into EU to give Arabs aide.
Israel Gives Palestinians Peace Deadline 19 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - Israel will give the Palestinians until the end of the year to prove they are willing to negotiate a final peace deal, and will unilaterally set its final borders by 2008 if they don't, Israel's justice minister said Wednesday. The statement by Justice Minister Haim Ramon, a close associate of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's, was the first by an Israeli official to set a
deadline for the Hamas-led Palestinian government to disarm and recognize the Jewish state.
The Palestinians' moderate president, Mahmoud Abbas, of the rival Fatah party, has tried to persuade Israel to bypass Hamas and resume peace negotiations with him, but Olmert has made it clear that he is not prepared to negotiate with Abbas if Hamas doesn't change its violent ways.
Hamas thus far has refused to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist, despite intense international pressure and the cutoff of hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid and Israeli transfer payments.
U.S., Allies Agree to Palestinian Aid By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer 1 hour, 6 minutes ago UNITED NATIONS
- The United States bowed to pressure from its allies Tuesday and agreed to support a new program to temporarily funnel additional aid directly to the Palestinian people. A surprise statement by Mideast peacemakers, issued after a day of closed-door diplomatic meetings, did not say precisely how much or what kind of aid they would provide. But the agreement seemed to underscore a concern that months of withholding most aid from the Palestinians, part of an effort to pressure the new Hamas-led government toward a more accommodating stance with Israel, was harming the Palestinian people.
The new fund represents a slight softening of the hard U.S. line against financial engagement with Hamas, the militant Islamic group that has conducted numerous terrorist attacks. The United States, the European Union and Israel list Hamas as a terrorist organization. The United States and European Union have cut off direct aid to the Palestinian government while pledging to help meet the crushing humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people through charities and other means.Israel has also refused to transfer $55 million in monthly tax revenues it collects for the Palestinian Authority.
Speaking Wednesday in Ramallah on the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh slammed the United States and its Western allies for demands on his government, but did not reject the temporary program. The Quartet brings from time to time conditions to force the government to concede the rights and recognize the legality of the occupation," Ismail Haniyeh said. I believe the government will remain faithful to the Palestinian rights and will keep seeking the equation that protects the Palestinian people.
The financial crisis has never been a factor dividing the Palestinians. It will be a factor that unites them," he told reporters. Overseas donations, mostly from Europe, have long sustained the cash-strapped and bloated Palestinian government. The new fund is supposed to administer only money for basic human needs. But both European and U.S. diplomats said that at some point it might be used to pay salaries for urgently needed doctors or teachers or for other services that the Hamas government otherwise would be expected to provide.
Hamas won election in part because of a record of providing services that the previous secular Fatah leadership did not.The aid cutoff has left the Palestinian government virtually broke and increasingly unable to provide basic services. Some 165,000 government workers, whose incomes had supported one-third of Palestinian families, have not been paid for the past two months, and the World Bank warned this week of an impending crisis. Frustrations rose to the surface over the weekend, when hundreds of Palestinians staged strikes and demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza to demand payment, the first public signs of discontent with Hamas' handling of the situation.
European governments in particular have been alarmed at the worsening plight for unemployed Palestinians and concerned that charities and U.N. agencies could not meet the demand for services or handle the amount of money that might be needed, diplomats said. They pressed the United States to agree to the new humanitarian fund, even though that kind of assistance may be an indirect benefit to Hamas. The United States agreed on condition the fund be temporary and limited to programs that meet basic needs, a senior State Department official said It would be against our values to let people starve," said Marc Otte, the EU's special envoy for the Mideast.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the European Union would take the lead in setting up the new fund. The United States is not expected to contribute. The United Nations and Russia, the other partners in the Quartet peacemaking group along with the U.S., also endorsed the program. The international group issued a warning to Hamas three months ago that it risked a loss of international aid if it did not change its policies. The thrust of this is the international community is still trying to respond to the needs of the Palestinian people," Rice said. The European Union has proposed sending money directly to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to be spent on hospitals, schools and humanitarian needs.
While the U.S. says it wants to keep sending humanitarian aid, it has been cool to the European proposal. Even greater differences exist between the U.S. and Russia. We're not for cutting off any aid," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Tuesday. The U.S. says it respects the democratic elections that produced the Hamas victory and has no express policy to oust the militants. Its financial strategy, however, seems aimed at undermining public support for Hamas and making it difficult or impossible for the militants to govern. Although the EU has also cut aid, public opinion in Europe often favors Palestinian causes and governments are leery of looking too harsh.
The EU and its 25 member states were the biggest source of aid to the Palestinians, granting some $634 million a year. The EU had proposed the new fund last week as a way to maintain an arm's length from the Hamas government while trying to meet a growing need. The fund could be jointly managed by donors through an international organization such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund or the United Nations. This has happened before. In 1994, the IMF created a fund that spent more than $250 million for development and other projects in Palestinian territories. It was shut down in 2001.
Israel Gives Palestinians Peace Deadline 19 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - Israel will give the Palestinians until the end of the year to prove they are willing to negotiate a final peace deal, and will unilaterally set its final borders by 2008 if they don't, Israel's justice minister said Wednesday. The statement by Justice Minister Haim Ramon, a close associate of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's, was the first by an Israeli official to set a
deadline for the Hamas-led Palestinian government to disarm and recognize the Jewish state.
The Palestinians' moderate president, Mahmoud Abbas, of the rival Fatah party, has tried to persuade Israel to bypass Hamas and resume peace negotiations with him, but Olmert has made it clear that he is not prepared to negotiate with Abbas if Hamas doesn't change its violent ways.
Hamas thus far has refused to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist, despite intense international pressure and the cutoff of hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid and Israeli transfer payments.
U.S., Allies Agree to Palestinian Aid By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer 1 hour, 6 minutes ago UNITED NATIONS
- The United States bowed to pressure from its allies Tuesday and agreed to support a new program to temporarily funnel additional aid directly to the Palestinian people. A surprise statement by Mideast peacemakers, issued after a day of closed-door diplomatic meetings, did not say precisely how much or what kind of aid they would provide. But the agreement seemed to underscore a concern that months of withholding most aid from the Palestinians, part of an effort to pressure the new Hamas-led government toward a more accommodating stance with Israel, was harming the Palestinian people.
The new fund represents a slight softening of the hard U.S. line against financial engagement with Hamas, the militant Islamic group that has conducted numerous terrorist attacks. The United States, the European Union and Israel list Hamas as a terrorist organization. The United States and European Union have cut off direct aid to the Palestinian government while pledging to help meet the crushing humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people through charities and other means.Israel has also refused to transfer $55 million in monthly tax revenues it collects for the Palestinian Authority.
Speaking Wednesday in Ramallah on the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh slammed the United States and its Western allies for demands on his government, but did not reject the temporary program. The Quartet brings from time to time conditions to force the government to concede the rights and recognize the legality of the occupation," Ismail Haniyeh said. I believe the government will remain faithful to the Palestinian rights and will keep seeking the equation that protects the Palestinian people.
The financial crisis has never been a factor dividing the Palestinians. It will be a factor that unites them," he told reporters. Overseas donations, mostly from Europe, have long sustained the cash-strapped and bloated Palestinian government. The new fund is supposed to administer only money for basic human needs. But both European and U.S. diplomats said that at some point it might be used to pay salaries for urgently needed doctors or teachers or for other services that the Hamas government otherwise would be expected to provide.
Hamas won election in part because of a record of providing services that the previous secular Fatah leadership did not.The aid cutoff has left the Palestinian government virtually broke and increasingly unable to provide basic services. Some 165,000 government workers, whose incomes had supported one-third of Palestinian families, have not been paid for the past two months, and the World Bank warned this week of an impending crisis. Frustrations rose to the surface over the weekend, when hundreds of Palestinians staged strikes and demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza to demand payment, the first public signs of discontent with Hamas' handling of the situation.
European governments in particular have been alarmed at the worsening plight for unemployed Palestinians and concerned that charities and U.N. agencies could not meet the demand for services or handle the amount of money that might be needed, diplomats said. They pressed the United States to agree to the new humanitarian fund, even though that kind of assistance may be an indirect benefit to Hamas. The United States agreed on condition the fund be temporary and limited to programs that meet basic needs, a senior State Department official said It would be against our values to let people starve," said Marc Otte, the EU's special envoy for the Mideast.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the European Union would take the lead in setting up the new fund. The United States is not expected to contribute. The United Nations and Russia, the other partners in the Quartet peacemaking group along with the U.S., also endorsed the program. The international group issued a warning to Hamas three months ago that it risked a loss of international aid if it did not change its policies. The thrust of this is the international community is still trying to respond to the needs of the Palestinian people," Rice said. The European Union has proposed sending money directly to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to be spent on hospitals, schools and humanitarian needs.
While the U.S. says it wants to keep sending humanitarian aid, it has been cool to the European proposal. Even greater differences exist between the U.S. and Russia. We're not for cutting off any aid," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Tuesday. The U.S. says it respects the democratic elections that produced the Hamas victory and has no express policy to oust the militants. Its financial strategy, however, seems aimed at undermining public support for Hamas and making it difficult or impossible for the militants to govern. Although the EU has also cut aid, public opinion in Europe often favors Palestinian causes and governments are leery of looking too harsh.
The EU and its 25 member states were the biggest source of aid to the Palestinians, granting some $634 million a year. The EU had proposed the new fund last week as a way to maintain an arm's length from the Hamas government while trying to meet a growing need. The fund could be jointly managed by donors through an international organization such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund or the United Nations. This has happened before. In 1994, the IMF created a fund that spent more than $250 million for development and other projects in Palestinian territories. It was shut down in 2001.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
PLO SIGNS ALL TREATIES ONLY
This is interesting, the PLO want to sign the Peace treaties only. Since they were involved since the Midrid Spain original talks.
Abbass: PLO is responsible for negotiationsPalestine-Israel, Politics, 5/9/2006
As if brushing aside the newly elected Palestinian government, led by Hamas, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that the PLO is the sole body responsible for negotiations since Madrid Conference so far, saying that the PLO signed Oslo Accord, and other agreements, asserting that the Department of Negotiations belongs to the PLO. Abbas called on the Israeli party to halt statements claiming the absence of a Palestinian partner for negotiations, and asserted on the existence of the Palestinian partner who believes in peace and the Roadmap peace plan.
Regarding reports on an expected meeting with the Israeli PM, Ehud Olmert, President called for holding the meeting, affirming that "we have a vision for the dialogue" which is based on implementing the Roadmap. Abbas mentioned to his letter to the Quartet, revealing that it consisted of two points, suggestions on reaching assistants to the Palestinian people and reactivate the political process under the term of the Roadmap.
He called on the international community and the so-called Quartet group to go back to negotiations, or to adopt the idea of negotiations, and to immediately launch negotiations with the new Israeli Government. Regarding the latest clashes in Gaza between (Fatah and Hamas militants), Abbas said he gave his orders for curbing any body tries to carry out such acts.
Abbass: PLO is responsible for negotiationsPalestine-Israel, Politics, 5/9/2006
As if brushing aside the newly elected Palestinian government, led by Hamas, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that the PLO is the sole body responsible for negotiations since Madrid Conference so far, saying that the PLO signed Oslo Accord, and other agreements, asserting that the Department of Negotiations belongs to the PLO. Abbas called on the Israeli party to halt statements claiming the absence of a Palestinian partner for negotiations, and asserted on the existence of the Palestinian partner who believes in peace and the Roadmap peace plan.
Regarding reports on an expected meeting with the Israeli PM, Ehud Olmert, President called for holding the meeting, affirming that "we have a vision for the dialogue" which is based on implementing the Roadmap. Abbas mentioned to his letter to the Quartet, revealing that it consisted of two points, suggestions on reaching assistants to the Palestinian people and reactivate the political process under the term of the Roadmap.
He called on the international community and the so-called Quartet group to go back to negotiations, or to adopt the idea of negotiations, and to immediately launch negotiations with the new Israeli Government. Regarding the latest clashes in Gaza between (Fatah and Hamas militants), Abbas said he gave his orders for curbing any body tries to carry out such acts.
Monday, May 08, 2006
TROUBLE ISRAELIS EVICTED ALREADY
Sorry Ehud Olmert your forcing GOD to bring World War 3 on the Earth because Israelis are being forced off the land God gave use and only use. As Joel 3:2 clearly states WW3 is brought about by giving up Israels land and Heritage. God will not stand for his land being separated, when his word says its Israels land.
JOEL 3:1-17
1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
ISAIAH 28:14-19
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
ISRAELI LEADERS LAND FOR SECURITY WILL BE A DECEPTION, DON'T SEPARATE GODS GIVEN LAND TO THE ARABS.
Israeli Police Evict Settlers in Hebron By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press
Writer 2 hours, 33 minutes ago HEBRON, West Bank - Baton-wielding Israeli police cajoled and dragged dozens of Jewish squatters out of a three-story, Palestinian-owned home Sunday, demonstrating the new government's resolve to confront extremist settlers. Nineteen officers
and seven settlers were reported injured during a clash outside as protesters tried to keep police from entering the building in a scene reminiscent of violence during last summer's forced evacuation of all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
In Gaza early Monday, three Palestinian gunmen were killed in the most serious outbreak of fighting between rival Fatah and Hamas since Hamas took over the Palestinian government in late March. A Hamas fighter was killed in Bani Suheila in southern Gaza, security officials said, and Hamas responded by firing an anti-tank rocket at Fatah gunmen, killing two. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to withdraw from most of the West Bank and draw Israel's borders by 2010, a program that infuriates settlers, many of whom view the whole territory as a Jewish biblical birthright.
In a further sign of his tough approach, Olmert told his Cabinet's first session that he will also crack down on wildcat settler outposts in the West Bank that have drawn international criticism.Olmert's withdrawal plan has also angered Palestinian leaders because Olmert says he will proceed even without a peace deal, pursuing a course similar to the unilateral Gaza withdrawal initiated by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Hours before the Hebron eviction began, police and settlers clashed when officers cleared away a crowd of protesters outside the home. The squatters threw balloons and light bulbs filled with paint from the roof. Police said settlers inside also threw stones, bottles and firebombs. Officers stormed inside after sawing through a barricaded metal door. Some in the crowd outside tried to force their way in, too, but officers pulled the struggling protesters away, sometimes slapping them to calm their thrashing.
Police appealed to the squatters — some with toddlers and babies — to leave peacefully, and some agreed. But others had to be hauled out, including one woman whose infant bawled as officers carried them out. The operation took about two hours, and three families and 27 young sympathizers were removed, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said. He said 17 settlers were arrested. Discarded water bottles, ice cream wrappers and half-eaten sandwiches overflowed from cardboard boxes in the damp, stone alley in front of the emptied building, which is not far from the Tomb of the Patriarchs — a shrine holy to Jews and Muslims. Authorities said about 700 police, supported by 1,000 soldiers, took part in the operation to enforce a court order that the squatters be removed.
Palestinians claiming to own the building went to court seeking their eviction. The settlers argued they had bought the home, but Israel's Supreme Court ruled that key documents
were forged and ordered the eviction. Olmert waited just minutes after the Hebron operation ended before telling his Cabinet that he would also remove unauthorized West Bank outposts, another flashpoint between the government and settlers over plans to give up land with large populations of Palestinians.
In the next few years, we will change Israel's character to ensure it will be a state with a solid Jewish majority living in defensible borders that can provide security to the residents of Israel," Olmert said at a ceremony marking his official entrance into the Prime Minister's Office as head of a coalition government approved by parliament Thursday. In every case where the law is violated, we will respond without compromise, and we won't reconcile ourselves to illegal facts on the ground," Olmert's office quoted him as saying. A government-commissioned report last year said settlers have established 105 unauthorized outposts over the past decade.
Settlers say openly that the outposts, sometimes no more than a mobile home and an Israeli flag on a barren hilltop, are designed to break up Palestinian areas and prevent establishment of a Palestinian state. Israel promised the U.S. government to dismantle about two dozen outposts set up since Sharon was first elected prime minister in March 2001, but little action has been taken yet. Hebron has long been a powder keg because of the extremists among its 160,000 Palestinian residents and 500 ultranationalist Jews who live in heavily fortified enclaves.
Murderers," a young Jewish settler yelled at a group of Palestinian youths peeking from a second-floor window during the eviction. Every Arab can buy a house in Hebron and no one will evacuate them, but because we are Jews they evacuate us," complained Orit Struk, a Hebron settler who was inside the building during the eviction. "This is the direction the Olmert
government wants to go: expulsion and evacuation of Jews."
JOEL 3:1-17
1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
ISAIAH 28:14-19
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
ISRAELI LEADERS LAND FOR SECURITY WILL BE A DECEPTION, DON'T SEPARATE GODS GIVEN LAND TO THE ARABS.
Israeli Police Evict Settlers in Hebron By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press
Writer 2 hours, 33 minutes ago HEBRON, West Bank - Baton-wielding Israeli police cajoled and dragged dozens of Jewish squatters out of a three-story, Palestinian-owned home Sunday, demonstrating the new government's resolve to confront extremist settlers. Nineteen officers
and seven settlers were reported injured during a clash outside as protesters tried to keep police from entering the building in a scene reminiscent of violence during last summer's forced evacuation of all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
In Gaza early Monday, three Palestinian gunmen were killed in the most serious outbreak of fighting between rival Fatah and Hamas since Hamas took over the Palestinian government in late March. A Hamas fighter was killed in Bani Suheila in southern Gaza, security officials said, and Hamas responded by firing an anti-tank rocket at Fatah gunmen, killing two. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to withdraw from most of the West Bank and draw Israel's borders by 2010, a program that infuriates settlers, many of whom view the whole territory as a Jewish biblical birthright.
In a further sign of his tough approach, Olmert told his Cabinet's first session that he will also crack down on wildcat settler outposts in the West Bank that have drawn international criticism.Olmert's withdrawal plan has also angered Palestinian leaders because Olmert says he will proceed even without a peace deal, pursuing a course similar to the unilateral Gaza withdrawal initiated by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Hours before the Hebron eviction began, police and settlers clashed when officers cleared away a crowd of protesters outside the home. The squatters threw balloons and light bulbs filled with paint from the roof. Police said settlers inside also threw stones, bottles and firebombs. Officers stormed inside after sawing through a barricaded metal door. Some in the crowd outside tried to force their way in, too, but officers pulled the struggling protesters away, sometimes slapping them to calm their thrashing.
Police appealed to the squatters — some with toddlers and babies — to leave peacefully, and some agreed. But others had to be hauled out, including one woman whose infant bawled as officers carried them out. The operation took about two hours, and three families and 27 young sympathizers were removed, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said. He said 17 settlers were arrested. Discarded water bottles, ice cream wrappers and half-eaten sandwiches overflowed from cardboard boxes in the damp, stone alley in front of the emptied building, which is not far from the Tomb of the Patriarchs — a shrine holy to Jews and Muslims. Authorities said about 700 police, supported by 1,000 soldiers, took part in the operation to enforce a court order that the squatters be removed.
Palestinians claiming to own the building went to court seeking their eviction. The settlers argued they had bought the home, but Israel's Supreme Court ruled that key documents
were forged and ordered the eviction. Olmert waited just minutes after the Hebron operation ended before telling his Cabinet that he would also remove unauthorized West Bank outposts, another flashpoint between the government and settlers over plans to give up land with large populations of Palestinians.
In the next few years, we will change Israel's character to ensure it will be a state with a solid Jewish majority living in defensible borders that can provide security to the residents of Israel," Olmert said at a ceremony marking his official entrance into the Prime Minister's Office as head of a coalition government approved by parliament Thursday. In every case where the law is violated, we will respond without compromise, and we won't reconcile ourselves to illegal facts on the ground," Olmert's office quoted him as saying. A government-commissioned report last year said settlers have established 105 unauthorized outposts over the past decade.
Settlers say openly that the outposts, sometimes no more than a mobile home and an Israeli flag on a barren hilltop, are designed to break up Palestinian areas and prevent establishment of a Palestinian state. Israel promised the U.S. government to dismantle about two dozen outposts set up since Sharon was first elected prime minister in March 2001, but little action has been taken yet. Hebron has long been a powder keg because of the extremists among its 160,000 Palestinian residents and 500 ultranationalist Jews who live in heavily fortified enclaves.
Murderers," a young Jewish settler yelled at a group of Palestinian youths peeking from a second-floor window during the eviction. Every Arab can buy a house in Hebron and no one will evacuate them, but because we are Jews they evacuate us," complained Orit Struk, a Hebron settler who was inside the building during the eviction. "This is the direction the Olmert
government wants to go: expulsion and evacuation of Jews."
Saturday, May 06, 2006
EGYPT ROADMAP OUTDATED CHANGE
Well Well. Egypt wants a change in the Roadmap interesting, is this were they might go to the Geneva Accord like I think they will. Because in Daniel 9:27, This verse says the Roadmap will be signed by Israel, Arabs and many. And many people signed the Geneva Accord, I take the Bible literal when it says the Peace contract will be signed by Many, The Geneva Accord was signed by many people, so I think The peace process will switch to it. Only God knows, but I go literally by what the Bible says.
Egypt says Mideast peace 'roadmap' outdated, needs change 2 hours, 3 minutes ago
CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit has said that the Middle East peace "roadmap" needed to be modified and called on the Palestinians to clarify their position towards its principles. The roadmap needs to be modified because its expiry date was last year in 2005," Abul Gheit said at a conference in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
Palestinians need to "create a clear workplan to define the Palestinian Authority's position on the principles fixed by the Quartet," Abul Gheit said Saturday. The language of negotiation is the only way to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said. If we succeed in gathering all the parties to participate... we could reach an agreement that may take several years to implement.
The international "roadmap" to peace was designed by the so-called Middle East quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. It was announced in 2003, with the aim of establishing by 2005 a viable Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace.
The group is due to meet in New York on Tuesday to promote the peace plan, along with foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. On Thursday, Abul Gheit met in Cairo with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Zahar and asked that the Palestinians determine their position vis-a-vis the principles laid down by the quartet, MENA said.
Abul Gheit also called on the Palestinians to adopt a common position based on the Arab peace
initiative and on UN resolutions. The Arab peace initiative, which was adopted by the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002, calls for normalizing relations with Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories according to the 1967 borders. The initiative, which also calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, has been rejected by Israel which is aiming to set its final borders with or without Palestinian agreement by 2010.
Egypt says Mideast peace 'roadmap' outdated, needs change 2 hours, 3 minutes ago
CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit has said that the Middle East peace "roadmap" needed to be modified and called on the Palestinians to clarify their position towards its principles. The roadmap needs to be modified because its expiry date was last year in 2005," Abul Gheit said at a conference in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
Palestinians need to "create a clear workplan to define the Palestinian Authority's position on the principles fixed by the Quartet," Abul Gheit said Saturday. The language of negotiation is the only way to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," he said. If we succeed in gathering all the parties to participate... we could reach an agreement that may take several years to implement.
The international "roadmap" to peace was designed by the so-called Middle East quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. It was announced in 2003, with the aim of establishing by 2005 a viable Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace.
The group is due to meet in New York on Tuesday to promote the peace plan, along with foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. On Thursday, Abul Gheit met in Cairo with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Zahar and asked that the Palestinians determine their position vis-a-vis the principles laid down by the quartet, MENA said.
Abul Gheit also called on the Palestinians to adopt a common position based on the Arab peace
initiative and on UN resolutions. The Arab peace initiative, which was adopted by the Arab Summit in Beirut in 2002, calls for normalizing relations with Israel in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories according to the 1967 borders. The initiative, which also calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state, has been rejected by Israel which is aiming to set its final borders with or without Palestinian agreement by 2010.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
DIVISION OF HOLY CITY
ONCE IT GETS TO THE DIVISION OF JERUSALEM STAGE, HE WHOLE WORLD GETS INVOLVED AND ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE.
Israel Offers Outline to Divide Jerusalem
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI (The Associated Press)Thursday, May 4, 2006; 4:39 PM
JERUSALEM -- Israel's new government is drawing up a blueprint for dividing the holy city of Jerusalem _ a once inconceivable notion _ giving the Palestinians nearly all the Arab neighborhoods while holding onto Jewish areas and disputed holy shrines.Otniel Schneller, an architect of the plan, described it in interviews this week with The Associated Press, giving the clearest picture yet of how Israel plans to separate from the Palestinians, abandoning most of the West Bank. We will not divide Jerusalem, we will share it," he said. Most of Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods would go to the Palestinians, he said. "Those same neighborhoods will, in my assessment, be central to the makeup of the Palestinian capital ... al-Quds," Schneller said, calling Jerusalem by its Arabic name. Israel would keep Jerusalem's Old City with its shrines sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians alike an unacceptable plan to Palestinians, particularly if carried out unilaterally.
Still, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert determined to draw Israel's final borders by 2010, likely without waiting for Palestinian agreement, a division of Jerusalem looks realistic for the first time.The plan reflects a sea change in the thinking of most Israelis, who once considered sacrilegious the idea of abandoning any part of the holy city.Since Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast War, Israelis had been in broad agreement that the city could never again be divided. But after five years of intefadeh bloodshed, Israeli voters swept Olmert's Kadima Party into office in March 28 elections on a platform to separate from the Palestinians for the good of the Jewish state.
A plan to divide Jerusalem was first brought up in 2000 peace talks but failed to materialize. Schneller _ a Kadima lawmaker _ is reviving that plan with his blueprint. But he cautioned that the ideas are still in the planning stages, require international backing and that there's no clear timetable for carrying them out. Under the plan, which would be executed unilaterally if efforts to resume peace talks fail, Jerusalem's Old City, its holy shrines and the adjacent neighborhoods, would become a "special region with special understandings" but remain under Israeli sovereignty, said Schneller. The Old City and the adjacent "holy basin," which includes the predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Silwan and Sheik Jarrah, would fall on the Israeli side of the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, another Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because plans are not final.
The plan also calls for moving the barrier westward. That means much of East Jerusalem would no longer be cut off from the West Bank and most Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem could become part of a future Palestinian state on the eastern side of the barrier, the official said. The United States has long held the position that "borders and Jerusalem and all final status issues ... ultimately have to be decided in negotiations between the parties," U.S. Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle said.But Washington is not likely to oppose unilateral Israeli pullouts from the West Bank. Olmert's plan involves dismantling dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank with tens of thousands of people and moving them to larger settlement blocs in the territory that Israel hopes to hold onto under a final peace deal.
Israel has said it will give the Hamas-led Palestinian government time to agree to international demands to recognize Israel, accept past peace deals and renounce violence. More than a month into its rule, Hamas has rejected the demands, Israel has cut off all ties with what it has labeled an enemy entity, and it appears increasingly likely the Jewish state will draw its borders on its own. The continuation of the scattered settlements throughout the West Bank creates an inseparable mix of populations that will threaten the existence of the state of Israel as a Jewish state," Olmert told parliament as he presented his government Thursday. If necessary, he said, "we will also act without the Palestinian Authority's agreement to reach an understanding that will first and foremost be based on the correct definition of Israel's borders.
That's a position hotly rejected by the Palestinians, who say the result will be a truncated territory on which it will be impossible to build a viable state. President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to accept any unilateral steps and rejects any provisional solutions," said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a senior spokesman for Abbas, a moderate who wields considerable power as president even though Hamas controls the parliament and Cabinet. Under Olmert's plan, the 460-mile West Bank separation barrier will roughly serve as the border, with some alterations. The barrier, as envisioned now, puts some 9.5 percent of the West Bank inside Israel, including Jewish settlement blocs and other areas Israel considers to be strategically important.
Schneller, himself a West Bank settler, would not say which settlements or how many settlers would be evacuated under Olmert's plan _ although he said it would be fewer than the 70,000 settlers Israeli media had speculated. Schneller said Israel plans to hold on to two main settlement blocs near Jerusalem, Maaleh Adumim and Gush Etzion, and the large Ariel settlement bloc jutting deep into the West Bank. Israel also plans to hold on to the Jordan River Valley as a security border. Settlements on the eastern side of the barrier, including Schneller's, will likely go.
Israel Offers Outline to Divide Jerusalem
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI (The Associated Press)Thursday, May 4, 2006; 4:39 PM
JERUSALEM -- Israel's new government is drawing up a blueprint for dividing the holy city of Jerusalem _ a once inconceivable notion _ giving the Palestinians nearly all the Arab neighborhoods while holding onto Jewish areas and disputed holy shrines.Otniel Schneller, an architect of the plan, described it in interviews this week with The Associated Press, giving the clearest picture yet of how Israel plans to separate from the Palestinians, abandoning most of the West Bank. We will not divide Jerusalem, we will share it," he said. Most of Jerusalem's Arab neighborhoods would go to the Palestinians, he said. "Those same neighborhoods will, in my assessment, be central to the makeup of the Palestinian capital ... al-Quds," Schneller said, calling Jerusalem by its Arabic name. Israel would keep Jerusalem's Old City with its shrines sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians alike an unacceptable plan to Palestinians, particularly if carried out unilaterally.
Still, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert determined to draw Israel's final borders by 2010, likely without waiting for Palestinian agreement, a division of Jerusalem looks realistic for the first time.The plan reflects a sea change in the thinking of most Israelis, who once considered sacrilegious the idea of abandoning any part of the holy city.Since Israel captured east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast War, Israelis had been in broad agreement that the city could never again be divided. But after five years of intefadeh bloodshed, Israeli voters swept Olmert's Kadima Party into office in March 28 elections on a platform to separate from the Palestinians for the good of the Jewish state.
A plan to divide Jerusalem was first brought up in 2000 peace talks but failed to materialize. Schneller _ a Kadima lawmaker _ is reviving that plan with his blueprint. But he cautioned that the ideas are still in the planning stages, require international backing and that there's no clear timetable for carrying them out. Under the plan, which would be executed unilaterally if efforts to resume peace talks fail, Jerusalem's Old City, its holy shrines and the adjacent neighborhoods, would become a "special region with special understandings" but remain under Israeli sovereignty, said Schneller. The Old City and the adjacent "holy basin," which includes the predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Silwan and Sheik Jarrah, would fall on the Israeli side of the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, another Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because plans are not final.
The plan also calls for moving the barrier westward. That means much of East Jerusalem would no longer be cut off from the West Bank and most Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem could become part of a future Palestinian state on the eastern side of the barrier, the official said. The United States has long held the position that "borders and Jerusalem and all final status issues ... ultimately have to be decided in negotiations between the parties," U.S. Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle said.But Washington is not likely to oppose unilateral Israeli pullouts from the West Bank. Olmert's plan involves dismantling dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank with tens of thousands of people and moving them to larger settlement blocs in the territory that Israel hopes to hold onto under a final peace deal.
Israel has said it will give the Hamas-led Palestinian government time to agree to international demands to recognize Israel, accept past peace deals and renounce violence. More than a month into its rule, Hamas has rejected the demands, Israel has cut off all ties with what it has labeled an enemy entity, and it appears increasingly likely the Jewish state will draw its borders on its own. The continuation of the scattered settlements throughout the West Bank creates an inseparable mix of populations that will threaten the existence of the state of Israel as a Jewish state," Olmert told parliament as he presented his government Thursday. If necessary, he said, "we will also act without the Palestinian Authority's agreement to reach an understanding that will first and foremost be based on the correct definition of Israel's borders.
That's a position hotly rejected by the Palestinians, who say the result will be a truncated territory on which it will be impossible to build a viable state. President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to accept any unilateral steps and rejects any provisional solutions," said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a senior spokesman for Abbas, a moderate who wields considerable power as president even though Hamas controls the parliament and Cabinet. Under Olmert's plan, the 460-mile West Bank separation barrier will roughly serve as the border, with some alterations. The barrier, as envisioned now, puts some 9.5 percent of the West Bank inside Israel, including Jewish settlement blocs and other areas Israel considers to be strategically important.
Schneller, himself a West Bank settler, would not say which settlements or how many settlers would be evacuated under Olmert's plan _ although he said it would be fewer than the 70,000 settlers Israeli media had speculated. Schneller said Israel plans to hold on to two main settlement blocs near Jerusalem, Maaleh Adumim and Gush Etzion, and the large Ariel settlement bloc jutting deep into the West Bank. Israel also plans to hold on to the Jordan River Valley as a security border. Settlements on the eastern side of the barrier, including Schneller's, will likely go.
2 YEAR COUNTDOWN
Sources: Start of convergence plan within two years By Aluf Benn (haaertz)
Ehud Olmert plans to begin implementing the convergence plan to define Israel's permanent borders in the West Bank within two years, according to political sources. In the meantime, the interim prime minister will present his government to the Knesset today and delineate its policies in the diplomatic, economic and social arenas. Following deliberations that are likely to last several hours, the Knesset plenum will authorize the new government that comprises 67 MKs from Kadima, Labor, the Pensioners party and the ultra-Orthodox Shas. After the Knesset, the 25 cabinet ministers will gather for a ceremony and group photograph at the residence of President Moshe Katsav.
On Sunday, Olmert will takeover the Prime Minister's offices, for the first time since he became acting Prime Minister following Ariel Sharon's stroke on 4 January. Joining Olmert will be his four senior aides: Chief of Staff Yoram Turbowicz; Deputy Chief of Staff, Oved Yehezkel - in charge of coordination of aides; Director of the prime minister's bureau, Shula Zaken; and Ra'anan Dinur, Director General of the Prime Minister's Office. In the coming week, Olmert and his associates will focus on internal organization and prepare for his first visit to Washington as prime minister where he is scheduled to meet President George W. Bush on 23 May at the White House.
In Washington, discussions are being held on the proposal to invite Olmert to address a joint session of Congress during his visit. An address to Congress by a foreign leader is not commonplace although a number of Israeli prime ministers have been invited to do so. Following his visit to Washington, Olmert is expected to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, most likely at the Sinai resort in Sharm el-Sheikh. Topping his list of priorities on the diplomatic front will be the "convergence plan" and the shaping of Israel's permanent borders in the West Bank. Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said that Olmert would like to begin the implementation of the plan in two years - others suggest 18 months to two years. By then, Olmert expects to focus his efforts on harnessing domestic political support for his plan as well as international backing.
Olmert will seek to broaden his coalition to 80 MKs, according to diplomatic sources, in order to allow his government the necessary breadth to last more than two years. Currently, support for the convergence plan stems from the MKs of Kadima, Labor, the Pensioners, and Meretz, a total of 60 parliamentarians, backed with the representatives of the Arab parties. Fearing a narrow base of support in the Knesset for his convergence plan, Olmert is likely to bring into the government the six representatives of United Torah Judaism. According to the convergence plan, which Olmert presented prior to the elections, the settlements beyond the separation fence will be evacuated and attached to the large settlement blocs of Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel, Greater Jerusalem and Gush Etzion. At the same time, the IDF will be given free rein in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley will be Israel's eastern border.
Olmert has said that he will initially offer the Palestinians negotiations, pending that the Hamas government recognizes Israel, accepts the previously signed agreements with the PLO and disavows terrorism. However, if negotiations do not advance, Olmert intends to carry out unilateral steps toward establishing Israel's borders. In his talks with Bush, Olmert will assess how much leeway the American administration is willing to grant on the convergence plan. Olmert considers it of paramount importance to initiate the implementation of the plan during the Bush presidency, whose tenure ends in January 2009. The Israeli leader will seek to reach an agreement with the U.S. administration on the time that should be alloted to attempts at negotiations with the Palestinians, and try to achieve U.S. support for a unilateral Israeli move.
At the same time, Olmert intends to order the construction of thousands of housing units in the large settlement blocs in order to absorb evacuees from the West Bank settlements. He intends to seek American approval for this action and create a sufficient housing stockpile in order to avoid the crisis which emerged following the disengagement from Gaza. Olmert would also like to hold an internal dialogue with the Yesha Council of Settlements on the convergence plan at an early stage. Olmert is opposed to the implementation of the Evacuation-Compensation law at this stage, and is not inclined to alter the preferential status of settlements. Sources close to Olmert say that the reason is that any change in the status or in the granting of compensation will have to take place after the evacuation limits are set, and this will take "at least a year."
Shmuel Rosner and Gideon Alon contributed to this report.
Ehud Olmert plans to begin implementing the convergence plan to define Israel's permanent borders in the West Bank within two years, according to political sources. In the meantime, the interim prime minister will present his government to the Knesset today and delineate its policies in the diplomatic, economic and social arenas. Following deliberations that are likely to last several hours, the Knesset plenum will authorize the new government that comprises 67 MKs from Kadima, Labor, the Pensioners party and the ultra-Orthodox Shas. After the Knesset, the 25 cabinet ministers will gather for a ceremony and group photograph at the residence of President Moshe Katsav.
On Sunday, Olmert will takeover the Prime Minister's offices, for the first time since he became acting Prime Minister following Ariel Sharon's stroke on 4 January. Joining Olmert will be his four senior aides: Chief of Staff Yoram Turbowicz; Deputy Chief of Staff, Oved Yehezkel - in charge of coordination of aides; Director of the prime minister's bureau, Shula Zaken; and Ra'anan Dinur, Director General of the Prime Minister's Office. In the coming week, Olmert and his associates will focus on internal organization and prepare for his first visit to Washington as prime minister where he is scheduled to meet President George W. Bush on 23 May at the White House.
In Washington, discussions are being held on the proposal to invite Olmert to address a joint session of Congress during his visit. An address to Congress by a foreign leader is not commonplace although a number of Israeli prime ministers have been invited to do so. Following his visit to Washington, Olmert is expected to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, most likely at the Sinai resort in Sharm el-Sheikh. Topping his list of priorities on the diplomatic front will be the "convergence plan" and the shaping of Israel's permanent borders in the West Bank. Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said that Olmert would like to begin the implementation of the plan in two years - others suggest 18 months to two years. By then, Olmert expects to focus his efforts on harnessing domestic political support for his plan as well as international backing.
Olmert will seek to broaden his coalition to 80 MKs, according to diplomatic sources, in order to allow his government the necessary breadth to last more than two years. Currently, support for the convergence plan stems from the MKs of Kadima, Labor, the Pensioners, and Meretz, a total of 60 parliamentarians, backed with the representatives of the Arab parties. Fearing a narrow base of support in the Knesset for his convergence plan, Olmert is likely to bring into the government the six representatives of United Torah Judaism. According to the convergence plan, which Olmert presented prior to the elections, the settlements beyond the separation fence will be evacuated and attached to the large settlement blocs of Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel, Greater Jerusalem and Gush Etzion. At the same time, the IDF will be given free rein in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley will be Israel's eastern border.
Olmert has said that he will initially offer the Palestinians negotiations, pending that the Hamas government recognizes Israel, accepts the previously signed agreements with the PLO and disavows terrorism. However, if negotiations do not advance, Olmert intends to carry out unilateral steps toward establishing Israel's borders. In his talks with Bush, Olmert will assess how much leeway the American administration is willing to grant on the convergence plan. Olmert considers it of paramount importance to initiate the implementation of the plan during the Bush presidency, whose tenure ends in January 2009. The Israeli leader will seek to reach an agreement with the U.S. administration on the time that should be alloted to attempts at negotiations with the Palestinians, and try to achieve U.S. support for a unilateral Israeli move.
At the same time, Olmert intends to order the construction of thousands of housing units in the large settlement blocs in order to absorb evacuees from the West Bank settlements. He intends to seek American approval for this action and create a sufficient housing stockpile in order to avoid the crisis which emerged following the disengagement from Gaza. Olmert would also like to hold an internal dialogue with the Yesha Council of Settlements on the convergence plan at an early stage. Olmert is opposed to the implementation of the Evacuation-Compensation law at this stage, and is not inclined to alter the preferential status of settlements. Sources close to Olmert say that the reason is that any change in the status or in the granting of compensation will have to take place after the evacuation limits are set, and this will take "at least a year."
Shmuel Rosner and Gideon Alon contributed to this report.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
QUARTET HOLD TALKS AT UN
Well folks the Quartet is starting to fall apart what has to happen si the eu takes full control of the mideast peace process.
Quartet to hold key talks on fate of its Mideast role By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Heads of the international Quartet will convene at the office of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday to discuss the future role of the U.S.-UN-EU-Russian grouping in the Middle East conflict, with the talks centering on the possibility of backing away from the road map peace plan and ending Quartet mediation in the Mideast conflict. A main issue in the talks will be whether to appoint a replacement for James Wolfensohn, the Quartet's former envoy for the Disengagement, or to refrain from further involvement in mediation between Israel and the Palestinians.
According to senior European sources, the Quartet officials will also weigh the degree to which the road map peace plan is relevant, discussing whether to update the plan or to withdraw from it altogether. Senior Quartet sources are voicing doubt regarding the continuation of international involvement in the Mideast diplomatic process. The doubt comes in the wake of the formation of the new coalition by Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - who has indicated that he intends to continue to pursue his policy of unilateralism - and following the rise of the Hamas government and the international boycott against it.
"The Quartet will need to take a principle decision regarding the continuation of its contribution to mediation between Israel and the Palestinians, if the reasons for Wolfensohn's resignation do not change," a European diplomat told Haaretz.If it is decided to name a new envoy, it will be necessary to formulate a mandate that is relevant to the new reality that has been created on the ground. Wolfensohn, ending more than a year's service as the Quartet envoy to Israel and the Palestinians, Monday singled out the rise of the Hamas government as a main stumbling block to further movement in Middle East diplomacy.
Wolfensohn had initially intended to leave the job in December, but bowed to a U.S. request that he stay on until the end of April to allow the Palestinian and Israeli elections to play out. While agreeing it was time for Wolfensohn to step down, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signalled in a joint news conference with Wolfensohn Monday that he might be called back for another stint and said, "I hope he will keep his uniform not very far from the door.
Wolfenson urges urgent attention on Mideast
In a summary report he submitted to the heads of the Quartet when he decided to resign, Wolfensohn called on the international community to address the Israeli-Palestinian crisis without delay, in order to prevent severe consequences for the whole region and for world peace, while impugning the Quartet's credibility as a conflict-resolving party. He warned that without a fundamental change in the situation vital services in the territories would collapse in the near future. Wolfensohn noted that if the Palestinian Authority did not receive the tax money Israel collects for it, if Israel continued its regime of restrictions on trade and labor and if the flow of donations continued to weaken, the GDP in the territories would drop this year by 27%.
According to the former World Bank president the bank's economists predict unless the situation turns around in 2008 74% of the Palestinians will be living beneath the poverty line and unemployment will reach 47%. He attributes a large part of the tremendous economic damage caused to the Palestinians to a systematic violation of commitments by Israel regarding the Gaza Strip border crossings and freedom of movement in the West Bank. Wolfensohn stressed the Palestinian Authority provides 60% of the health and education services and that the U.N. and voluntary organizations can not replace it. He said due to fear of American sanctions banks throughout the world refuse to transfer money to the PA or even directly to its employees.
"We must ask ourselves whether humanitarian aid is enough to bring us to the desired goal - a two-state solution - as the Road Map says," Wolfensohn concluded his latest report. He noted that in recent years the international community allocated an annual sum of some two billion dollars as aid to the Palestinians, hoping it would help build effective institutions and a thriving economy, on the way to establishing a viable state.
"Are we going to give all that up now," he asks, alluding to the policy of completely boycotting the Hamas government, or will we find a way that will allow us to work in the framework of the law and the policy, while continuing to support building a democratic and responsible administration, that can act to realize the dream of peace and security for the two peoples.
The 72-year-old Australian-born American Jew informed PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and the heads of the Israeli defense establishment during his latest visit in Israel in mid-March that if he did not receive a renewed mandate for his mission he was resolved to resign at the end of April. He explained he did not see any point in his continuing to serve as long as the Quartet and the donor nations had not decided on a clear policy that befitted the new political situation created in the territories following the Hamas victory in the legislative council elections.
Since the elections Wolfensohn and his team have coordinated efforts to obtain funding for the Palestinian interim government. Wolfensohn, who took office last May, coordinated the contacts that led to the agreement on the border crossings between Israel and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice last November.
Wolfensohn recently met representatives of the Bereaved Families Forum, that includes both Israelis and Palestinians, and decided to donate 100,000 dollars of his own money to an exhibit they initiated, Offering Reconciliation 2006, whose purpose is to bring the idea of reconciliation to the public's awareness through art. In the exhibit, which will be displayed at the Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan , before traveling the world, 135 Israeli and Palestinian artists present their work, including the prime minister's wife, Aliza Olmert, Danny Caravan, Moshe Gershoni, Menashe Kadishman, Yigal Tumarkin, David Tartakover, Usama Za'tar, Jamal Houda, Jalal Kamal, Bouthniya Milhed, Rafi Lavie and others.
Wolfensohn leaves with dig at Hamas
"The Palestinians need to understand that it is not business as usual," Wolfensohn told the news conference, adding in a reference to Hamas, "Here you have a Palestinian group which has said it wants to destroy its neighbor. I guess if Canada did that to the United States, or New Zealand did it to Australia, the reaction would not be very [positive]," he said. Speaking in Washington on Monday, Wolfensohn said he had made "quite a lot of progress" in promoting economic development of Gaza after the Israelis withdrew in September of last year.
But he said that given Hamas' accession to power after its surprise win in January's Palestinian elections, "the political events are such that I think the issues are above my pay grade. With the government of Hamas having taken over with the Palestinians, it's a very difficult movement to be able to try and negotiate any independent type of arrangements," Wolfensohn said.
Wolfensohn, who had frequently complained of being "disenfranchised" in his Gaza role and threatened to quit, left with a warning that the West should not consider trying to starve the Hamas-led Palestinians into submission. I don't think anyone in the quartet believes that to be the policy - although, sometimes, it is made to appear that that is what it is," he said. "I think that's a losing gambit."
Quartet to hold key talks on fate of its Mideast role By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Heads of the international Quartet will convene at the office of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday to discuss the future role of the U.S.-UN-EU-Russian grouping in the Middle East conflict, with the talks centering on the possibility of backing away from the road map peace plan and ending Quartet mediation in the Mideast conflict. A main issue in the talks will be whether to appoint a replacement for James Wolfensohn, the Quartet's former envoy for the Disengagement, or to refrain from further involvement in mediation between Israel and the Palestinians.
According to senior European sources, the Quartet officials will also weigh the degree to which the road map peace plan is relevant, discussing whether to update the plan or to withdraw from it altogether. Senior Quartet sources are voicing doubt regarding the continuation of international involvement in the Mideast diplomatic process. The doubt comes in the wake of the formation of the new coalition by Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - who has indicated that he intends to continue to pursue his policy of unilateralism - and following the rise of the Hamas government and the international boycott against it.
"The Quartet will need to take a principle decision regarding the continuation of its contribution to mediation between Israel and the Palestinians, if the reasons for Wolfensohn's resignation do not change," a European diplomat told Haaretz.If it is decided to name a new envoy, it will be necessary to formulate a mandate that is relevant to the new reality that has been created on the ground. Wolfensohn, ending more than a year's service as the Quartet envoy to Israel and the Palestinians, Monday singled out the rise of the Hamas government as a main stumbling block to further movement in Middle East diplomacy.
Wolfensohn had initially intended to leave the job in December, but bowed to a U.S. request that he stay on until the end of April to allow the Palestinian and Israeli elections to play out. While agreeing it was time for Wolfensohn to step down, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signalled in a joint news conference with Wolfensohn Monday that he might be called back for another stint and said, "I hope he will keep his uniform not very far from the door.
Wolfenson urges urgent attention on Mideast
In a summary report he submitted to the heads of the Quartet when he decided to resign, Wolfensohn called on the international community to address the Israeli-Palestinian crisis without delay, in order to prevent severe consequences for the whole region and for world peace, while impugning the Quartet's credibility as a conflict-resolving party. He warned that without a fundamental change in the situation vital services in the territories would collapse in the near future. Wolfensohn noted that if the Palestinian Authority did not receive the tax money Israel collects for it, if Israel continued its regime of restrictions on trade and labor and if the flow of donations continued to weaken, the GDP in the territories would drop this year by 27%.
According to the former World Bank president the bank's economists predict unless the situation turns around in 2008 74% of the Palestinians will be living beneath the poverty line and unemployment will reach 47%. He attributes a large part of the tremendous economic damage caused to the Palestinians to a systematic violation of commitments by Israel regarding the Gaza Strip border crossings and freedom of movement in the West Bank. Wolfensohn stressed the Palestinian Authority provides 60% of the health and education services and that the U.N. and voluntary organizations can not replace it. He said due to fear of American sanctions banks throughout the world refuse to transfer money to the PA or even directly to its employees.
"We must ask ourselves whether humanitarian aid is enough to bring us to the desired goal - a two-state solution - as the Road Map says," Wolfensohn concluded his latest report. He noted that in recent years the international community allocated an annual sum of some two billion dollars as aid to the Palestinians, hoping it would help build effective institutions and a thriving economy, on the way to establishing a viable state.
"Are we going to give all that up now," he asks, alluding to the policy of completely boycotting the Hamas government, or will we find a way that will allow us to work in the framework of the law and the policy, while continuing to support building a democratic and responsible administration, that can act to realize the dream of peace and security for the two peoples.
The 72-year-old Australian-born American Jew informed PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and the heads of the Israeli defense establishment during his latest visit in Israel in mid-March that if he did not receive a renewed mandate for his mission he was resolved to resign at the end of April. He explained he did not see any point in his continuing to serve as long as the Quartet and the donor nations had not decided on a clear policy that befitted the new political situation created in the territories following the Hamas victory in the legislative council elections.
Since the elections Wolfensohn and his team have coordinated efforts to obtain funding for the Palestinian interim government. Wolfensohn, who took office last May, coordinated the contacts that led to the agreement on the border crossings between Israel and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice last November.
Wolfensohn recently met representatives of the Bereaved Families Forum, that includes both Israelis and Palestinians, and decided to donate 100,000 dollars of his own money to an exhibit they initiated, Offering Reconciliation 2006, whose purpose is to bring the idea of reconciliation to the public's awareness through art. In the exhibit, which will be displayed at the Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan , before traveling the world, 135 Israeli and Palestinian artists present their work, including the prime minister's wife, Aliza Olmert, Danny Caravan, Moshe Gershoni, Menashe Kadishman, Yigal Tumarkin, David Tartakover, Usama Za'tar, Jamal Houda, Jalal Kamal, Bouthniya Milhed, Rafi Lavie and others.
Wolfensohn leaves with dig at Hamas
"The Palestinians need to understand that it is not business as usual," Wolfensohn told the news conference, adding in a reference to Hamas, "Here you have a Palestinian group which has said it wants to destroy its neighbor. I guess if Canada did that to the United States, or New Zealand did it to Australia, the reaction would not be very [positive]," he said. Speaking in Washington on Monday, Wolfensohn said he had made "quite a lot of progress" in promoting economic development of Gaza after the Israelis withdrew in September of last year.
But he said that given Hamas' accession to power after its surprise win in January's Palestinian elections, "the political events are such that I think the issues are above my pay grade. With the government of Hamas having taken over with the Palestinians, it's a very difficult movement to be able to try and negotiate any independent type of arrangements," Wolfensohn said.
Wolfensohn, who had frequently complained of being "disenfranchised" in his Gaza role and threatened to quit, left with a warning that the West should not consider trying to starve the Hamas-led Palestinians into submission. I don't think anyone in the quartet believes that to be the policy - although, sometimes, it is made to appear that that is what it is," he said. "I think that's a losing gambit."
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