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Israeli Ambassador Dermer: The Prime Minister Didn't Say What the President Suggested He Said

(NBC News) Chuck Todd - Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, told "Meet the Press" on Sunday: "Prime Minister Netanyahu...is committed to a vision of peace of two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state of Israel. What has changed is the circumstances over the last few years." "We have a collapse of a 100-year order in the Middle East. And militant Islam is charging into the void. That's the first thing that changed. The second thing that changed...is that...ten months ago, the leader of the Palestinian Authority reached out to a terror organization and forged an alliance with Hamas. Hamas is committed to Israel's destruction. Their charter calls for the murder of Jews worldwide. They fire thousands of rockets at Israel." "And what Israel believes has to happen now is that President Abbas has to break his alliance with Hamas and return to peace negotiations with Israel.... Why did the peace process collapse? Because President Abbas joined up with Hamas. You can't join up with a terror organization." "The prime minister is not against a demilitarized Palestinian state. He's not against, and he hasn't retracted it any way, his vision that he laid out at Bar-Ilan University six years ago in 2009. What he's against is establishing a terror state on the West Bank, which would create not another Gaza, but 20 Gazas." The prime minister "didn't say what the president and others seem to suggest that he's saying....He didn't change his position. He didn't run around giving interviews saying he's now against a Palestinian state." "The only way we're going to reach peace is if we have the parties at the negotiating table. A United Nations resolution will do the exact opposite. It will harden Palestinian positions. And it will prevent us not only from having peace today, it could prevent peace for decades to come, because no Palestinian leader will move from those positions that are going to be put forward at the United Nations." "What the Palestinians want is they want a state, but they don't want to give Israel peace in return. Israel is in favor of a Palestinian state that would end the conflict with Israel. We are not in favor of a Palestinian state that will continue to wage war against Israel."
2015-03-23 00:00:00
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