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Peace Can Only be Made with Adversaries Who Want to Make Peace
-(Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Ambassador Dan Gillerman Israel's UN Ambassador addressed the UN General Assembly on November 30, 2004: Treating those engaged in terror and those determined, under difficult conditions, to respond to it as though they were moral equals is not amoral - it is immoral. For the Palestinians there is no present and no future, only the past happening over and over again. I truly believe most Palestinians want, and deserve, better. From its earliest days, Israel has offered an outstretched hand to those genuinely committed to peace, and we have proved ready to follow the path of mutual recognition and mutual compromise. Peace treaties with two of our neighbors, Egypt and Jordan, provide examples of the positive results that can be attained if Israel's goodwill is received in kind by those to whom it is offered. Governments that glorify murder as martyrdom cannot at the same time foster peace and good-neighborliness. If we reject the tactics of terrorism, and the ideology of hate that feeds it, we create the conditions for coexistence and prosperity. Israel recognizes that peace is made with one's adversaries, not with one's friends. But peace can only be made with adversaries who want to make peace with you. While we were compelled to advance the disengagement plan in the absence of a Palestinian partner for peace, we are hopeful that it can be coordinated, and that it can jumpstart the negotiating process, the only path to lasting peace.