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Israeli Envoy Rejects Mideast "Linkage"

[Washington Times] David R. Sands - Foreign-policy crises in Iraq and Iran will not be eased by pressuring Israel to cut a peace deal with the Palestinians, Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor said in an interview Thursday. "Frankly, we don't see any connection between our dispute with the Palestinians and the level of violence on Haifa Street in Baghdad," said Meridor. "And there is no linkage in my mind between the Israeli-Palestinian question and what Ahmadinejad is planning for the region and the world by pursuing a nuclear weapon." "We think that, yes, there is a convergence of interests of many Arab countries in the region and Israel today in recognition of the threat to the entire region from Iran," he said. "Whether that can be translated into action and a new alliance, we will have to see." "Nobody is more interested in a real two-state compromise than Israel, as we have demonstrated time and time again," Meridor said. "The real problem is that, right now, we don't have a real interlocutor on the Palestinian side willing and capable of delivering an agreement that meets basic international principles." Meridor said Israel was taking a "calculated risk" in allowing the buildup of security forces of Mahmoud Abbas, locked in a bloody power struggle with the elected Hamas government.
2007-02-01 01:00:00
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