Nov. 29, 2007

Olmert: Palestinian State Vital To Israel

Israeli P.M. Warns Otherwise "Israel Is Finished" With Apartheid-Like Struggle

    • President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas walk back to the Oval Office after Mr. Bush spoke in the White House Rose Garden, Nov. 28, 2007. Photo

      President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas walk back to the Oval Office after Mr. Bush spoke in the White House Rose Garden, Nov. 28, 2007.  (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty)

    • President Bush, center, flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, makes a statement on the Middle East peace process in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007. Photo

      President Bush, center, flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, right, makes a statement on the Middle East peace process in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007.  (Getty Images)

    • President Bush, center, walks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, to the opening session of the Mideast conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Photo

      President Bush, center, walks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, to the opening session of the Mideast conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007.  (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

    • Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, shake hands as President Bush looks on at center, during the opening session of the Mideast conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007. Photo

      Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, shake hands as President Bush looks on at center, during the opening session of the Mideast conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007.  (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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(CBS/AP)  Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview published Thursday that creation of a Palestinian state is a vital Israeli interest, and that failure to reach a peace agreement could plunge Israel into a South African-style apartheid struggle.

Such a scenario, he said, would mean "the state of Israel is finished."

While Olmert has long said that the region's demography is working against Israel, the comments published in Haaretz were among his strongest as he prepares a skeptical public for the renewed peace talks launched at this week's conference in Annapolis, Md.

It will be a hard sell, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger: two polls show that 42 to 50 percent of Israelis believe Annapolis was a failure.

Olmert's reference to apartheid was particularly explosive because Israeli officials have long rejected any comparison to the racist system once in place in South Africa.

Olmert was en route back to Israel at midday Thursday, and his office could not immediately confirm the accuracy of the published comments in Haaretz.

In other developments:

  • Israeli police on Thursday recommended that prosecutors drop their investigation into whether Olmert illegally intervened in the government's sale of a bank, citing a lack of evidence, police said. The decision gave Olmert an important boost as he prepares to relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians. The threat of indictment has cast a cloud over Olmert for months.

  • In a closed-door session during the Mideast summit, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni complained that she was being treated like a pariah by the Arab representatives to the conference. "Why doesn't anyone want to shake my hand?" a Dutch official told The Washington Post. "Why doesn't anyone want to be seen speaking to me?" "They shun her like she is Count Dracula's younger sister," said Frans Timmermans, the Dutch Minister for European Affairs.

  • At the same meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice drew parallels between the Palestinians' situation and her childhood in a segregated Deep South. "I know what it is like to hear to that you cannot go on a road or through a checkpoint because you are Palestinian," she said, according to the Post. "I understand the feeling of humiliation and powerlessness." Timmermans and a U.S. official say she also said she understood the Israelis' fear of Palestinian violence.

  • "We are looking for a two-state solution, not a three-state solution," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said, adding that the parties are Israel and Abbas' Palestinian Authority, not Israel, West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. If a Palestinian state is achieved, "the Palestinians in Gaza are going to have to make a choice," he said in a speech Wednesday evening at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

    Before leaving Washington, Olmert briefed Israeli reporters and gave a different interpretation to the Annapolis summit, reports CBS News correspondent Howard Arenstein. Olmert said that even if the two sides reach an agreement by the end of 2008, that doesn't mean Israel will have to implement it until it gets what it wants from the Palestinians. That includes peaceful relations with Gaza and other Palestinian obligations from the "road map" peace plan.

    Quote

    We are looking for a two-state solution, not a three-state solution.

    National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley
    That's unlikely to happen. Hamas warns it won't allow Abbas to implement Phase 1 of the road map plan, dismantling militant groups. Hamas official Halil Abu Lelleh said the Annapolis conference gave the U.S. the authority to wipe out the armed struggle, reports Berger. He described the U.S. as the enemy of the Palestinian cause.

    The Palestinians want to form an independent state in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and east Jerusalem - areas that Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

    Many Israeli demographers believe that with their higher birthrate, the Arab population of these areas, combined with Israel's own Arab population, could soon exceed the Jewish population in Israel.

    Jews are a solid majority inside Israel proper, comprising roughly 80 percent of the population of 7 million. However, if the West Bank and Gaza are included, Arabs already comprise nearly half the population of the region.

    To ensure that Israel can maintain its character as a democracy with a solid Jewish majority, Olmert supports a large withdrawal from the West Bank and parts of east Jerusalem, following Israel's pullout in 2005 from Gaza.

    "The day will come when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights," Olmert told Haaretz. "As soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished."

    Israel's 1.5 million Arab citizens have the right to vote. But the estimated 3.9 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza do not have Israeli citizenship.

    In the interview, Olmert warned that Israel risks losing the support of influential American Jewish groups if it retains control of the Palestinians.

    "The Jewish organizations, which were our power base in America, will be the first to come out against us," he said, "because they will say they cannot support a state that does not support democracy and equal voting rights for all its residents."

    Olmert, a hard-liner early in his career, in recent years has repeatedly warned that Israel cannot remain both Jewish and democratic if it holds on to the West Bank and Gaza. But he has never used the South African analogy in public, though officials say he recently made the same argument in a closed meeting with lawmakers.

    At the U.S. peace conference in Annapolis, Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally relaunched peace talks, which broke down in violence seven years ago, and pledged to reach an agreement next year.

    © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Add a Comment See all 28 Comments
    by radiob-2009 November 29, 2007 8:50 AM PST
    At the U.S. peace conference in Annapolis, Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally relaunched peace talks, which broke down in violence seven years ago, and pledged to reach an agreement next year.



    Why do they continue to postpone these agreements?
    Reply to this comment
    by dmhphils November 29, 2007 9:13 AM PST
    In its most recent election Israel chose Ehud Olmert''s Kadima Party, whose platform was to continue Sharon''s program of disengagement from Palestinian lands, extending it from Gaza to the West Bank. The Palestinians chose Hamas, whose charter also states: "The Prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews and kill them; until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him!"

    Reply to this comment
    by dmhphils November 29, 2007 9:17 AM PST
    Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims.
    - Hamas Charter, Article 28

    Our primary assumption in our fight against Israel states that the Zionist entity is aggressive from its inception, and built on lands wrested from their owners, at the expense of the rights of the Muslim people. Therefore our struggle will end only when this entity is obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no cease fire, and no peace agreements, whether separate or consolidated.
    - Hezbollah Program.

    Israel has no such charter against any peoples or nation such as this.
    Reply to this comment
    by v_1618 November 29, 2007 12:04 PM PST
    ISRAEL IS OVER....
    Reply to this comment
    by lewiston14 November 29, 2007 12:30 PM PST
    Did anybody think this meeting was actually going to work? I bet they mades the planes take off at different times so they could not shoot at each other on the way home.What a joke
    Reply to this comment
    by November 29, 2007 12:33 PM PST
    The "after burn" by Olmert is much to do about nothing but overdoo of the doodoo. This "circus" was put together quickly - in Olmert''s words - "to assist Bush in achieving his legacy". The remarks that his "correspondent" declared on C-Span appealed to the "sympathy of stress upon Israel that an agreement had not been accomplished".

    But, the leaning of the great post of whose wrong was wrong ---of course the Palestinians ---then pronouncing that the Hamas was - along with Hezboola and Iran ---EXTREMISTS to be dealt with soon. She made the "agreement of 1967" sound as though Israel considered that a favor to Palestine %u2013 Their leadership has skilled excuse writers for every charge they are declared guilty of ---but Bush vetoes every resolution that is awkward to Israel.

    Peace could be supreme in that area if Olmert would just quit trying to be MILITARY MINDED ALL THE TIME. Their attitude is never attempt to negociate fairly -- just "take it if you want it" theory.

    Israel People want peace - they do not want the MILITARY MITE TO BE THE REASON FOR ACQUIRING ANY SETTLEMENT. The People were not in favor of the Bush/Olmert invasion of Lebanon in 06 and they are not in favor of the Bush/Olmert "danged if we can''t" plans to invade Iran.
    Reply to this comment
    by denn034 November 29, 2007 12:40 PM PST
    The Israelis are doing there part.
    Reply to this comment
    by pelosisaho1 November 29, 2007 1:10 PM PST
    What do you expect from an idiot and coward like Olmert?

    No matter how much he''ll give up, it will never be enough for the Fascists of the world.

    He''d make a great Democratic Presidential Candidate. A coward and traitor to his people.
    Only problem is, they''d never accept him because he was (supposedly) born a Jew.
    Reply to this comment
    by pepperp1 November 29, 2007 1:14 PM PST



    .........could plunge Israel into a South African-style apartheid struggle.



    Could????? has man up...



    Reply to this comment
    by realpatriot1 November 29, 2007 1:14 PM PST
    All thoseidiots who called Jimmy Carter an anti-Semite for saying that Israel needed peace or aprtheid look rather foolish now that the President of Israel has said the same thing.

    It shows that Carter was right. His detractors should actually read the book, as I have, and open their eyes if they truly care about the people of Israel.
    Reply to this comment
    by realpatriot1 November 29, 2007 1:17 PM PST
    peloisaho1,

    We accept him as the leader of Israel, you''re the one having a problem with that.
    Reply to this comment
    by terrorislam6 November 29, 2007 1:26 PM PST
    IT IS FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM STUPID

    Dutch lawmaker planning film criticizing the Quran
    A Dutch conservative lawmaker said Wednesday he is making a film to highlight what he describes as "fascist" passages in the Quran, his latest high profile criticism of Islam.
    Wilders plans to depict parts of the Quran he says are used as inspiration "by bad people to do bad things."
    Less than 10 minutes long, the film is expected to air in late January. It will show "the intolerant and fascist character of the Quran," said Wilders, whose anti-Islam campaign helped his Freedom Party win nine seats in parliament in last year''s election.
    In the past, Wilders has said that half the Quran should be torn up and compared it with Adolf Hitler''s book "Mein Kampf." He has claimed the Netherlands is being swamped by a "tsunami" of Islamic immigrants.
    http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/28/europe/EU-GEN-Netherlands-Anti-Quran-Film.php
    Reply to this comment
    by terrorislam6 November 29, 2007 1:30 PM PST
    fascist nazi terrorislam IS OVER....
    Reply to this comment
    by pepperp1 November 29, 2007 1:36 PM PST


    Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview published Thursday that creation of a Palestinian state is a vital Israeli interest, and that failure to reach a peace agreement could plunge Israel into a South African-style apartheid struggle.

    Hmmmmm he must have read President Carters book Palestine Peace not Apartheid, again it is a non Republican Statesman who guides the way even when he has been out of office for years. So those crazy folks who were outrageous and wrong when they attacked President Carter as a hater of jews for his brave book, what say you about Olmert? I believe the attacks on Carter while baseless started an important to long suppressed bullied dialogue on the plight of Arab Israelis. President Carter is a fine moral man and his book when read and not wielded as a political weapon has no biases.
    Reply to this comment
    by terrorislam6 November 29, 2007 1:42 PM PST
    NONE OF US IS FREE UNLESS ALL ARE FREE!!!

    None Of Us Are Free - Lynyrd Skynyrd
    http://www.lyrics007.com/Lynyrd%20Skynyrd%20Lyrics/None%20Of%20Us%20Are%20Free%20Lyrics.html

    WHY IS IT NOT ONE MUSLIM COUNTRY GRANTS EQUAL RIGHTS TO NON MUSLIMS???

    FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM SAYS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATES ISLAM LAW...

    Universal Declaration of Human Rights
    http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

    For example, in 1981, the Iranian representative to the United Nations, Said Rajaie-Khorassani, articulated the position of his country regarding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by saying that the UDHR was "a secular understanding of the Judeo-Christian tradition", which could not be implemented by Muslims without trespassing the Islamic law.

    http://www.un.org/terrorism/
    http://www.un.org/terrorism/strategy-counter-terrorism.html
    http://www.un.org/

    But the accepted assumption in India is that most of India''s Muslims were converted to Islam through the sword. Meaning the Indians were given an option between death or adopting Islam. The third option was getting examined in Islam religion along with heavy taxes- Jeziya (poll tax) and Kharaj (property tax).
    http://adaniel.tripod.com/Islam.htm

    this is what fascist nazi islam calls peace....

    are you ready to live under islam rule as a non muslim???

    apartheid fascist nazi islamic style

    Rights of Non-Muslims in an Islamic State
    http://www.sullivan-county.com/id3/islamic_state.htm
    Reply to this comment
    by terrorislam6 November 29, 2007 1:43 PM PST
    Is islam a violation of international law???

    islam practices slavery on non muslims
    islam practices apartheid on non muslims
    islam practices rape on non muslims
    islam practices rape on babies and animals
    islam practices genocide on non muslims

    all are violations of international law and are crimes against humanity

    Universal Declaration of Human Rights
    http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/22/world/main2505445.shtml
    Imam Khomeini - Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution
    http://www.homa.org/Details.asp?ContentID=2137352826&TOCID=2083225445
    Malaysia women ''suffer apartheid''
    The daughter of Malaysia''s former prime minister has launched a scathing attack on the roles and status of Muslim women in the country.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4784784.stm
    A matter of tolerance
    http://musingwithmarinamahathir.blogspot.com/2006/12/matter-of-tolerance.html
    Marina Mahathir
    http://musingwithmarinamahathir.blogspot.com/
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=slavery+islam&btnG=Search
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4795808.stm
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=apartheid islam
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rape islam
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rape islam babies&btnG=Search
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=genocide islam&btnG=Search
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman November 29, 2007 3:49 PM PST
    terrorislam6---Lars,,,, Go to Wal*Mart buy the new Eagles CD, sit back & smoke a fatty.... You''ll feel better
    Reply to this comment
    by realpatriot1 November 29, 2007 4:11 PM PST
    j-whitman,

    Bad idea. You don''t want to get Lars high, he''s paranoid enough already.
    Reply to this comment
    by j-whitman November 29, 2007 4:13 PM PST
    realpatriot1,,,,, It''s a double CD, he''ll eat some cookies & fall asleep
    Reply to this comment
    by prinzowhales November 29, 2007 6:22 PM PST
    If a Palestinian state were "vital" to Israel, as Olmert claims, they could have come to an agreement years ago. The Israeli regime finds it impossible to utter a word of truth.

    Livni knows good and well that they have no relations with her government...they have nothing to say to her officially...that is what "non recognition" is all about...yet CBS simply prints her whining without comment...And Condumlizzard Lice''s attempt to equate her experience in the South with the daily life of the Palestinians is patently absurd...Even the apartheid of the old South African regime does not approach the ghetto-ization, murder, kidnappings, arrests, torture and abuse that Palestinians face daily.

    If the Arab states have anything to contribute it would be to advise Bush and his fellow clowns that they are not married to the dollar and the Western Oil cartel and Bush can either press Israel for peace or Americans will be pushing their cars to work when they start selling crude on the Iranian international oil market in Euros...that might get the negotiations going...yes, indeedy.
    Reply to this comment
    by grazinggoat November 29, 2007 6:30 PM PST
    CBS News: ''Olmert: Palestinian State Vital To Israel
    Israeli P.M. Warns Otherwise "Israel Is Finished" With Apartheid-Like Struggle''

    - Can''t believe it. This reetaarrd is saying, now, what we were saying for decades, at least thinking! LOL!

    -Stayin'' over 50 yrs encapsulated like a germ capsule in the host body, as if it were in a hostile environment cannot be, and is just not successful.

    -Communications and public relation activities such as this meeting are essential to warm the relations between the two belligerent people, for inter-relations to start and develop.

    -Muslims and Jews are alike, in their solitude in the world, pragmatism of life view...

    -Unfortunately it''s not Democrats who were at the origin of this step... Nontheless, Repukons are waking up and feeling the heat had they not done this summit in Annapolis. Barrack was going to pull the carpet under their feet.
    Reply to this comment
    by tbweb November 29, 2007 11:25 PM PST
    CBS News: ''''Olmert: Palestinian State Vital To Israel
    Israeli P.M. Warns Otherwise "Israel Is Finished" With Apartheid-Like Struggle''''

    - Can''''t believe it. This reetaarrd is saying, now, what we were saying for decades, at least thinking! LOL!

    -Stayin'''' over 50 yrs encapsulated like a germ capsule in the host body, as if it were in a hostile environment cannot be, and is just not successful.

    -Communications and public relation activities such as this meeting are essential to warm the relations between the two belligerent people, for inter-relations to start and develop.

    -Muslims and Jews are alike, in their solitude in the world, pragmatism of life view...

    -Unfortunately it''''s not Democrats who were at the origin of this step... Nontheless, Repukons are waking up and feeling the heat had they not done this summit in Annapolis. Barrack was going to pull the carpet under their feet.

    Posted by grazinggoat at 06:30 PM : Nov 29, 2007,,,

    I don''t agree with you a lot but, bullseye!
    Reply to this comment
    by grazinggoat November 30, 2007 12:36 AM PST
    -Unfortunately it''''''''s not Democrats who were at the origin of this step... Nontheless, Repukons are waking up and feeling the heat had they not done this summit in Annapolis. Barrack was going to pull the carpet under their feet.

    Posted by grazinggoat at 06:30 PM : Nov 29, 2007,,,

    I don''''t agree with you a lot but, bullseye!
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Posted by tbweb at 11:25 PM : Nov 29, 2007

    -We don''t need to agree, all the time, but like the chiefs, who don''t agree, end up by giving up their stone-carved ideas, beliefs and political approaches... One is anything but intelligent if their pre-conceived views are not self-criticised, adjusted. A bit to the right for lefties and a bit of decent of liberal pragmatism for rightwing neo-cons, and people can get to shake hands.

    Reply to this comment
    by brianbwb-2009 November 30, 2007 2:16 AM PST
    "...failure to reach a peace agreement could plunge Israel into a South African-style apartheid struggle.
    Such a scenario, he said, would mean "the state of Israel is finished."

    Odd, Ahmadinejad was thoroughly roasted by the "invade Iran" warmongers for this very same statement. He knows that Israel doesn''t want, and never has wanted, a viable Palestinian state. He knows that Israel and the US will make totally unreasonable conditions, which Palestine will be forced to reject, and then they will try to make the Palestinians out to be the "bad guys".

    This meeting is doomed to fail, and the continuation of apartheid will be the beginning of the spiral to the end for Israel.

    Just like Olmert, and Ahmadinejad, have said.
    Reply to this comment
    by pakaal November 30, 2007 2:00 PM PST
    [Olmert said] "failure to reach a peace agreement could plunge Israel into a South African-style apartheid struggle."

    Wow, so Israel finally admits they have been oppressing the Palestinians like South Africa did to the Africans! Good on them, in my travels in South Africa, most of the whites I talked to were happier now that their country has renounced apartheid - and why not, oppressing people rarely makes you feel better about yourself in the long run.
    Reply to this comment
    by toolmangler-2009 November 30, 2007 5:17 PM PST
    Well, the one on the right was on the left
    And the one in the middle was on the right
    And the one on the left was in the middle
    And the guy in the rear was a Methodist
    Reply to this comment
    by keithle1 December 1, 2007 7:21 AM PST
    Would it be such a bad thing if the state of Israel was "finished"? Oops. Me say something bad.
    Reply to this comment
    by tbweb December 1, 2007 11:01 PM PST
    [Olmert said] "failure to reach a peace agreement could plunge Israel into a South African-style apartheid struggle."

    Wow, so Israel finally admits they have been oppressing the Palestinians like South Africa did to the Africans! Good on them, in my travels in South Africa, most of the whites I talked to were happier now that their country has renounced apartheid - and why not, oppressing people rarely makes you feel better about yourself in the long run.

    Posted by pakaal at 02:00 PM : Nov 30, 2007,,,

    You may be on to something, the U.S. should pass a Law that all illegal immigrants must receive the legal U.S. minimum wage! Watch how fast we solve our illegal immigrant problem!
    Reply to this comment
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