Israel, Once a Thief Always a Thief
Israel PM warns unilateral border plan is unstoppable
French President Jacques Chirac (R) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before talks, at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Olmert warned that his contested plan to set Israel's borders on the West Bank with or without agreement from the Palestinians was unstoppable.(AFP/Patrick Kovarik)
Jun 14, 2006
by Jean-Luc Renaudie
PARIS (AFP) -Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that his contested plan to set Israel's borders on the West Bank, with or without agreement from the Palestinians, was unstoppable.
"My plan cannot be stopped and is the most that Israel is prepared to agree to," he told reporters accompanying him on a state visit to Paris, where he sought to win President Jacques Chirac's backing for his proposal.
"I prefer to reach a negotiated settlement (with the Palestinians), but if that is not the case we will apply our plan," said the prime minister, on his first visit to Europe since his election in March.
Designed to prevent stalemate if restarting talks proves impossible, Olmert's so-called "realignment plan" would see Israel uproot 70,000 settlers from the West Bank while cementing its hold on housing blocs where most of the quarter of a million settlers live.
Speaking ahead of talks with Olmert, Chirac appeared to reject his plan, telling reporters the aim of two states living peacefully side-by-side "implies a resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority".
The Israeli premier said later the meeting with Chirac had been "very encouraging, from our point of view".
But a member of the French delegation present said Chirac -- who has repeatedly said he opposes a unilateral settlement -- simply "restated, and gave the reasons for, France's overriding commitment to a negotiated settlement".
Chirac also offered France's help to restart the negotiating process.
Olmert said would do all in his power to ensure talks resume with the Palestinians.
But, speaking to journalists, he repeated Israel's three conditions: "an end to terrorism, the respect of all agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, and the recognition of Israel".
Those principles have been rejected by the government led by Hamas, the main Islamist movement in the Palestinian territories, effectively paralysing the peace process.
The Israeli later said in a television interview he supported a Palestinian referendum which would recognise Israel, but warned that "in order to negotiate, terrorism must first cease."
Tensions have escalated further between Israel and the Palestinians following the death of eight Palestinian civilians in an explosion on a Gaza beach -- which prompted Hamas to end an 18-month truce.
Olmert has been campaigning hard to win Western backing for his proposal, which has received a cool reception from some Arab leaders.
US President George W. Bush has called Olmert's plan "bold" but has also told Olmert that he must first exhaust all efforts to reach an agreement with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
The Israeli prime minister suggested following talks in London on Monday that his British counterpart Tony Blair had also tacitly backed the plan.
Blair said he favoured a negotiated settlement, but accepted that talks could only resume if Israel's conditions were met -- and that otherwise Israel would "necessarily and realistically" seek to "unlock" the situation.
Officials said Chirac and Olmert did not discuss ways of resuming hundreds of millions of dollars of Western aid to the Palestinians -- suspended because of the refusal by Hamas to recognise Israel.
In Paris several hundred pro-Palestinian activists protested late Wednesday outside parliament, where a gala dinner in Olmert's honour was being held.
The protesters, organised by the far-left Revolutionary Communist League political party, railed against "apartheid" in Israel and held signs denouncing Israel as a criminal state.
At the dinner, Olmert praised Chirac and his prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, pour waging a "courageous and determined battle" against anti-Semitism. Villepin said anti-Semitic crimes had been cut nearly in half in 2005 compared to a year earlier.
The Israeli leaders' visit comes amid an unprecedented upsurge of factional violence in the Palestinian territories -- opposing Hamas and Fatah militants loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas -- that has raised fears of civil war.
French President Jacques Chirac (R) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before talks, at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Olmert warned that his contested plan to set Israel's borders on the West Bank with or without agreement from the Palestinians was unstoppable.(AFP/Patrick Kovarik)
Jun 14, 2006
by Jean-Luc Renaudie
PARIS (AFP) -Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that his contested plan to set Israel's borders on the West Bank, with or without agreement from the Palestinians, was unstoppable.
"My plan cannot be stopped and is the most that Israel is prepared to agree to," he told reporters accompanying him on a state visit to Paris, where he sought to win President Jacques Chirac's backing for his proposal.
"I prefer to reach a negotiated settlement (with the Palestinians), but if that is not the case we will apply our plan," said the prime minister, on his first visit to Europe since his election in March.
Designed to prevent stalemate if restarting talks proves impossible, Olmert's so-called "realignment plan" would see Israel uproot 70,000 settlers from the West Bank while cementing its hold on housing blocs where most of the quarter of a million settlers live.
Speaking ahead of talks with Olmert, Chirac appeared to reject his plan, telling reporters the aim of two states living peacefully side-by-side "implies a resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority".
The Israeli premier said later the meeting with Chirac had been "very encouraging, from our point of view".
But a member of the French delegation present said Chirac -- who has repeatedly said he opposes a unilateral settlement -- simply "restated, and gave the reasons for, France's overriding commitment to a negotiated settlement".
Chirac also offered France's help to restart the negotiating process.
Olmert said would do all in his power to ensure talks resume with the Palestinians.
But, speaking to journalists, he repeated Israel's three conditions: "an end to terrorism, the respect of all agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, and the recognition of Israel".
Those principles have been rejected by the government led by Hamas, the main Islamist movement in the Palestinian territories, effectively paralysing the peace process.
The Israeli later said in a television interview he supported a Palestinian referendum which would recognise Israel, but warned that "in order to negotiate, terrorism must first cease."
Tensions have escalated further between Israel and the Palestinians following the death of eight Palestinian civilians in an explosion on a Gaza beach -- which prompted Hamas to end an 18-month truce.
Olmert has been campaigning hard to win Western backing for his proposal, which has received a cool reception from some Arab leaders.
US President George W. Bush has called Olmert's plan "bold" but has also told Olmert that he must first exhaust all efforts to reach an agreement with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
The Israeli prime minister suggested following talks in London on Monday that his British counterpart Tony Blair had also tacitly backed the plan.
Blair said he favoured a negotiated settlement, but accepted that talks could only resume if Israel's conditions were met -- and that otherwise Israel would "necessarily and realistically" seek to "unlock" the situation.
Officials said Chirac and Olmert did not discuss ways of resuming hundreds of millions of dollars of Western aid to the Palestinians -- suspended because of the refusal by Hamas to recognise Israel.
In Paris several hundred pro-Palestinian activists protested late Wednesday outside parliament, where a gala dinner in Olmert's honour was being held.
The protesters, organised by the far-left Revolutionary Communist League political party, railed against "apartheid" in Israel and held signs denouncing Israel as a criminal state.
At the dinner, Olmert praised Chirac and his prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, pour waging a "courageous and determined battle" against anti-Semitism. Villepin said anti-Semitic crimes had been cut nearly in half in 2005 compared to a year earlier.
The Israeli leaders' visit comes amid an unprecedented upsurge of factional violence in the Palestinian territories -- opposing Hamas and Fatah militants loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas -- that has raised fears of civil war.
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 3:01 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home