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Olmert: Israel Must Assure Security for Its Citizens, Even If This Requires Considerable Time

[Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs] At the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, Prime Minister Olmert said: "Ahead of and during the Annapolis meeting, Israel insisted on several principles, the goal of which was to create the conditions for the success of the entire process. The most significant condition is that the implementation of the agreement will be conditional on the implementation of the first stage of the Roadmap, including the Palestinians' war on terrorism and the dismantling of the terrorist infrastructures in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Israel has thus made the entire process subject to the most important thing for its citizens - security. Whoever wants peace, and we very much want it, must assure the security component - even if this is difficult to achieve and even if it requires considerable time." "It is possible to draw great encouragement from the Annapolis meeting, both from its content and from the considerable participation by Arab countries with which Israel does not have diplomatic relations. A window was opened at Annapolis, which could - in the end - lead to normalization between Israel and a series of moderate, peace-seeking Arab countries. After Annapolis, I am hopeful that these countries will - in the first stage - open interests sections in Israel and begin to have economic ties with us; I know that several of them are interested in this."
2007-12-03 01:00:00
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