Netanyahu: I'm Ready To Resume Peace Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he is ready to resume peace talks with the Palestinians immediately, but any agreement is contingent on their acceptance of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. His comments came after a meeting with President Barack Obama, who bluntly told the Israeli leader it was time to get back to the negotiating table.
Netanyahu and President Barack Obama met for more than two hours at the White House and focused on Mideast peace talks, Iran's nuclear program and the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
Mr. Obama said he expects a positive response from his diplomatic outreach to Iran on stopping its nuclear program by the end of the year. The president said the United States wanted to bring Iran into the world community, but declared "we're not going to have talks forever."
At the same time, Mr. Obama said bluntly that it was important that Netanyahu, a hard-liner on peace negotiations with the Palestinians, to restart the stalled Mideast peace talks. While his language was gentle, Mr. Obama's words were notable nonetheless for being made in public.
"We have seen progress stalled on this front, and I suggested to the prime minister that he has a historic opportunity to get a serious movement on this issue during his tenure," Mr. Obama said. "That means that all the parties involved have to take seriously obligations that they have previously agreed to."
Added Mr. Obama: "I think that there is no reason why we should not seize this opportunity and this moment."
Netanyahu said he was ready to resume peace talks with the Palestinians immediately but said any agreement depended on their acceptance of Israel's right to exist. It was not immediately clear in the way he phrased the response whether Netanyahu was demanding that as a precondition for talks.
"There's never been a time when Arabs and Israelis see a common threat the way we see it today," Netanyahu said, speaking of a sense of urgency felt throughout the Arab world about Iran's nuclear program.
On Iran, Mr. Obama declared a readiness to seek deeper international sanctions against the Islamic Republic if it shunned U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Washington and many key allies contend Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.
"The important thing is to make sure there is a clear timetable, at which point we say these talks don't seem to be making any clear progress," Mr. Obama said. "If that hasn't taken place I think the international community will see that it's ... Iran itself that is isolating themselves."
Netanyahu did not respond publicly to Mr. Obama's comment that Israel must stop expanding Jewish settlements in West Bank. He also refused again to say he was ready to negotiate a so-called two-state solution to the nearly 60-year dispute with the Palestinians. The plan, endorsed by the United States and other parties pushing for peace between the historic foes, calls for establishment of a Palestinian state side by side with Israel.
"Netanyahu is in no rush to reach a peace treaty and, though he sees room for a 'two-state solution,' down the road, does not want to talk about Palestinian statehood now," writes CBS News Correspondent Howard Arenstein in the World Watch Blog. "He feels that would turn the West Bank and Gaza Strip into what Israelis like to call 'Hamas-stan.'" (Read more.)
Palestinians offered praise for Mr. Obama but expressed disappointment with Netanyahu's remarks.
Netanyahu "did not mention a commitment to a two-state solution, and we need to see American action against this policy," said Nail Abu Redden, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who visits the White House on June 28.
Saeb Erekat, the top Palestinian negotiator, issue a similar assessment:
"Mr. Netanyahu failed to mention the two-state solution, signed agreements and the commitment to stop settlement activity. He said he wants the Palestinians to govern themselves. The question to Mr. Netanyahu is, 'How can I govern myself while your occupation continues everywhere in the West Bank and Gaza, and how can I govern myself under your wall, roadblocks and settlement activities?'"
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Netanyahu and President Barack Obama met for more than two hours at the White House and focused on Mideast peace talks, Iran's nuclear program and the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
Mr. Obama said he expects a positive response from his diplomatic outreach to Iran on stopping its nuclear program by the end of the year. The president said the United States wanted to bring Iran into the world community, but declared "we're not going to have talks forever."
At the same time, Mr. Obama said bluntly that it was important that Netanyahu, a hard-liner on peace negotiations with the Palestinians, to restart the stalled Mideast peace talks. While his language was gentle, Mr. Obama's words were notable nonetheless for being made in public.
"We have seen progress stalled on this front, and I suggested to the prime minister that he has a historic opportunity to get a serious movement on this issue during his tenure," Mr. Obama said. "That means that all the parties involved have to take seriously obligations that they have previously agreed to."
Added Mr. Obama: "I think that there is no reason why we should not seize this opportunity and this moment."
Netanyahu said he was ready to resume peace talks with the Palestinians immediately but said any agreement depended on their acceptance of Israel's right to exist. It was not immediately clear in the way he phrased the response whether Netanyahu was demanding that as a precondition for talks.
"There's never been a time when Arabs and Israelis see a common threat the way we see it today," Netanyahu said, speaking of a sense of urgency felt throughout the Arab world about Iran's nuclear program.
On Iran, Mr. Obama declared a readiness to seek deeper international sanctions against the Islamic Republic if it shunned U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Washington and many key allies contend Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.
"The important thing is to make sure there is a clear timetable, at which point we say these talks don't seem to be making any clear progress," Mr. Obama said. "If that hasn't taken place I think the international community will see that it's ... Iran itself that is isolating themselves."
Netanyahu did not respond publicly to Mr. Obama's comment that Israel must stop expanding Jewish settlements in West Bank. He also refused again to say he was ready to negotiate a so-called two-state solution to the nearly 60-year dispute with the Palestinians. The plan, endorsed by the United States and other parties pushing for peace between the historic foes, calls for establishment of a Palestinian state side by side with Israel.
"Netanyahu is in no rush to reach a peace treaty and, though he sees room for a 'two-state solution,' down the road, does not want to talk about Palestinian statehood now," writes CBS News Correspondent Howard Arenstein in the World Watch Blog. "He feels that would turn the West Bank and Gaza Strip into what Israelis like to call 'Hamas-stan.'" (Read more.)
Palestinians offered praise for Mr. Obama but expressed disappointment with Netanyahu's remarks.
Netanyahu "did not mention a commitment to a two-state solution, and we need to see American action against this policy," said Nail Abu Redden, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who visits the White House on June 28.
Saeb Erekat, the top Palestinian negotiator, issue a similar assessment:
"Mr. Netanyahu failed to mention the two-state solution, signed agreements and the commitment to stop settlement activity. He said he wants the Palestinians to govern themselves. The question to Mr. Netanyahu is, 'How can I govern myself while your occupation continues everywhere in the West Bank and Gaza, and how can I govern myself under your wall, roadblocks and settlement activities?'"
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I would never chose Israel as an enemy, but when they spy on us and steal our classified defense secrets, they don't behave as friends.
Giving Israel the advantage was a mistake when we gave them nuclear weapons. Watching them self-destruct from unresolved conflicts may be painful, but neccesary.
Posted by U-R-So-Wrong at 2:43 PM
Do you want to go into the Crusades and how Christians tortured and slaughtered Jews too? Posted by texasbeta
The Crusaders were quite efficient at this. They weren't very kind to the Greek Orthodox Christians of Constantinople either, the Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) Churches having split along similar lines as the Western and Eastern provinces of the old Roman Empire, of which they had once been the state religion. The Crusaders didn't think much of anyone who wasn't Catholic.
But they all attacked the Jews, and it explains why the Jews wanted their own country restored to them, where they were the majority. This was not achieved until the 20th Century, after many other ethnic groups had also struggled for nationhood.
It is a mistake for the rest of the world to sympathize with the Jews for this reason alone. Israel is one battlefront in the continuous warfare that certain Muslims wage against non-Muslims on every continent, and certainly the crimes committed against the Hindus are monstrous.
Jihadists are unevolved from the time of the conquest of India, disrespectful of all other religions, and a danger to the secular world at large.
Posted by U-R-So-Wrong at 2:43 PM
Do you want to go into the Crusades and how Christians tortured and slaughtered Jews too?
Posted by U-R-So-Wrong at 2:43 PM : May 19, 2009
Heh sounds like Equador. Just kidding I like Equador as a lib
Posted by U-R-So-Wrong at 2:02 PM : May 19, 2009
These things take time my friend. I am not sure the whole greek pantheon will reappear. I just found out that I am Chiron yesterday. I am not quite sure what I will do with this information as I tend to procrastinate. Even a god needs to eat. As far as Chiron being a couple of thousand years old I would despute that. He is much older. Obviously as I now know centaurs existed, it is logical that giants, leprecauns, and fairies also did. I don't know if they are going to make their appearance any time soon.
856,000 Jews left their homes in Arab countries from 1948 until the early 1970s; 260,000 reached Israel in 1948-1951, 600,000 by 1972. The Jews of Egypt and Libya were expelled while those of Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and North Africa left as a result of a coordinated effort among Arab governments to create physical and political insecurity. Most were forced to abandon their property. By 2002 these Jews and their descendants constituted about 40% of Israel's population. The main representative body of this group, the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, (WOJAC) estimates that Jewish property abandoned in Arab countries would be valued today at more than $300 billion and Jewish-owned real-estate left behind in Arab lands at 100,000 square kilometers (four times the size of the State of Israel). The organization asserts that the Jewish exodus was the result of a deliberate policy decision taken by the Arab league.
In the middle of the 19th century, J. J. Benjamin wrote about the life of Persian Jews, describing conditions and beliefs that went back to the 16th century:
"?they are obliged to live in a separate part of town?; for they are considered as unclean creatures? Under the pretext of their being unclean, they are treated with the greatest severity and should they enter a street, inhabited by Mussulmans, they are pelted by the boys and mobs with stones and dirt? For the same reason, they are prohibited to go out when it rains; for it is said the rain would wash dirt off them, which would sully the feet of the Mussulmans? If a Jew is recognized as such in the streets, he is subjected to the greatest insults. The passers-by spit in his face, and sometimes beat him? unmercifully? If a Jew enters a shop for anything, he is forbidden to inspect the goods? Should his hand incautiously touch the goods, he must take them at any price the seller chooses to ask for them... Sometimes the Persians intrude into the dwellings of the Jews and take possession of whatever please them. Should the owner make the least opposition in defense of his property, he incurs the danger of atoning for it with his life... If... a Jew shows himself in the street during the three days of the Katel (Muharram)?, he is sure to be murdered."
Let's not kid ourselves: in Iran, the killing of Jews has long been a national sport.
Of course. Let's not be silly.
Posted by U-R-So-Wrong at 3:47 AM : May 19, 2009
Chiron was himself a pacifist who taught the heros of the Greek age how to fight. There would be no Odessy or Iliad without Chiron. Chiron is real. I am Chiron! Last time I checked the Greeks and Jews never fought so how can I be a Jewish conspiracy theorist! Posted by mnbrant
I'd have to take your word for that. However, you are claiming to be a centaur who is several thousand years old. It's difficult to see how you've kept this news from the media.