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How Israel Hopes to Achieve Peace with the Palestinians

[Prime Minister's Office] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in a conference call on Tuesday: We seek unconditional peace talks with the Palestinians. We're prepared to begin those talks immediately. We have to work on five principles that are not preconditions for beginning peace talks, but they are clear foundations for a successful completion of peace talks. Recognition. We are asked to recognize a nation-state for the Palestinian people. It's necessary and elementary that the Palestinians be asked to recognize the nation-state of the Jewish people. The absence of the recognition of the Jewish people's right to a state of their own remains the source, the root of this conflict. The problem of Palestinian refugees will be resolved outside the State of Israel. A peace treaty that actually ends the conflict. It's not an interim peace treaty from which the conflict is pursued from the Palestinian state that will be established. The Palestinians upon the signing of a peace treaty have to say unequivocally that they have no more claims. A Palestinian state that doesn't threaten the State of Israel. The only way that will be achieved is by effective demilitarization. Gaza and Lebanon are examples of ineffective measures of demilitarization. These two places are used as a launching ground for thousands of missiles that have been hurled against us. A peace arrangement must be guaranteed by the international community, led by the United States. One other element for ending the conflict is to push forward the spread of prosperity. We've taken far-reaching steps to liberalize movement in the West Bank, removing barriers and checkpoints, and to unblock several economic projects that could advance the Palestinian economy. This idea of advancing economic peace is not a substitute for achieving political peace, it's a way to facilitate it. It makes peace more possible and more worthwhile for the Palestinians, as opposed to the radical Islamist projection of misery and conflict.
2009-07-23 06:00:00
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