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Israeli Deputy FM: Obama's Ankara Speech Did Not Favor Annapolis

[Ha'aretz] Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon said Friday that President Obama's speech in Turkey earlier this week did not include any support for the Annapolis peace process, Army Radio reported. Ayalon denounced calls which interpreted Obama's reference to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation launched in Annapolis in 2007 as a warning to Israel's government. Obama said a two-state solution "is a goal that the parties agreed to in the Roadmap and at Annapolis," and that is "a goal that I will actively pursue as president." "Anyone who bothered to pay close attention could see that Obama said nothing in favor of Annapolis," Ayalon said. "Actually, it's the other way around; he said that he hopes both Palestinians and Israelis are committed to the Roadmap, as was stated in Annapolis." Ayalon added that he "met American officials on Tuesday night, and things aren't quite the way they are portrayed in the newspaper articles, and I think that the Americans noticed the substantial statements made by [Israeli Foreign Minister] Lieberman in his inauguration speech, according to which Israel was committed to all the previously ratified agreements, including the Roadmap."
2009-04-10 06:00:00
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