Olmert: Israel will make every effort to agree with Palestinians
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today that he would make “every possible effort” to negotiate peace with the Palestinians but remains prepared to act unilaterally.
Olmert, speaking at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, also said Israel would not accept nuclear weapons in Iran.
“Israel will not tolerate nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran. We will not be able to accept such a reality,” Olmert said. “It is quite obvious why.”
Blair said there was broad international agreement on the need to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and promised Olmert “every support and every impetus we can from the international community” toward that goal.
Olmert pledged “every possible effort” to negotiate peace, but said that was conditional on an end of terrorism. But he also made it plain that he remained prepared to act unilaterally.
“In spite of our obvious efforts, we may not be able to achieve our primary goal to negotiate with the Palestinians on the principles of the road map. We will have to move forward … to separate from the Palestinians, pull out from areas of the West Bank to realign Israelis to other parts of Israel to leave a very large contiguous territories for a state to be formed by the Palestinians,” he said.
“We are prepared to pull out from most of the occupied territories for the formation of a Palestinian state,” Olmert added.
“But the Palestinians are fighting with us, … missing a great opportunity. What we are offering is a generous compromise, a dramatic change of attitudes and positions. This is a great opportunity for us and the Palestinians to move forward.”
Blair, again stressing his insistence on a negotiated settlement, said it was clear that an agreement could be reached.
“If you can get negotiations under way, a solution is possible,” Blair said. “The three conditions are laid down for Israel to begin negotiations on a final settlement – Israel’s right to exists, the renunciation of violence and adherence to the road map.”
Asked if he advocated negotiations with the militant Hamas leadership, Blair said: “You can only negotiate with people who accept your existence and stop violence. A negotiated settlement is easily, manifestly the best thing. We can’t continue indefinitely with what we have at the moment. We need a resolution or it slips back into chaos.”
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