(AP/Washington Post) Prime Minister Sharon's adviser Raanan Gissin said Thursday at Georgetown University that Israel's government would make a "decent respectful offer" of statehood to the Palestinians. "We are willing to make painful concessions. We are willing to give away part of our ancestral home so the Palestinians" can have a state. However, "we are fighting for our right to exist as a Jewish democracy." Israel's critics, he said, "deny us the right of self-defense. They present us the right to die peacefully." Gissin reaffirmed Israel's commitment to a U.S.-backed roadmap for peacemaking, although he said there were some reservations.
2003-11-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive