World

Israel, Palestinian Moderates Pledge Peace

January 25, 2007 / 5:21 AM EST / CBS/AP

In emotional speeches Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to forge peace between their countries, calling the vision of two states, side by side, the only path.

With Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas watching, Livni told the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum that a Palestinian state is "not an illusion. It's there, it's achievable."

Livni urged the international community to support moderates in the Middle East and told Abbas that "compromising with extremists will not promote anything," a clear reference to Hamas and other militant groups.

Abbas listened intently, nodding his head, and afterward greeted her warmly with a long handshake. He reiterated that if he cannot form a unity government with Hamas officials, he would move to call early elections, but gave no specific timetable.

In other developments:

Israeli President Moshe Katsav (left) has taken a leave of absence in the

(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

wake of rape allegations, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. But dozens of members of parliament have decided to pursue impeachment proceedings against him next week, so he could face trial, though Knesset approval is unlikely. Katsav says he's innocent, and for now, as president, he has immunity from prosecution.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel has full freedom of action to deal with Iran, and warned that anyone who threatens Israel's existence must know without a doubt that Israel will defend itself by all means necessary, including force. Berger reports Israel has been warning that it will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon for more than a year, since the Iranian president threatened to wipe the Jewish state off the map.

Israel has released the deported former imam of Ohio's biggest mosque after a military court ruled there wasn't enough evidence to hold him on charges of ties to a Palestinian militant group, his lawyer said Thursday. Fawaz Damra served as imam at the Islamic Center of Cleveland and has three American-born daughters. He was deported by U.S. authorities because he lied when applying for American citizenship in 1994 about his links to Islamic Jihad, a group classified by Israel and the U.S. as a terrorist organization.

A group of Israeli women has petitioned Israel's Supreme Court to prevent bus companies from enforcing the separation of men and women on buses running through some ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. Women in those neighborhoods are required to sit in the back of the bus. The petition points to a growing divide between secular and ultra-Orthodox Israelis, reports Berger. The petitioners said segregation violates women's rights and they do not want Israel to turn into a Taliban country.

An Israeli human rights group called on the Israeli Army on Thursday to stop using undercover troops in Palestinian areas after four civilians were killed in a botched West Bank military operation. The civilians would have stayed clear of the area if the soldiers had been wearing uniforms, B'Tselem said.

Livni spoke after Abbas said peace between Israel and the Palestinian territories was a concept whose time had come. In remarks at the session that also featured Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Abbas said that "peace is due and peace is forthcoming."

(AP)

Addressing a large crowd of political leaders, corporate bosses and others at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, Abbas (left), speaking in Arabic, said that such an agreement would help strengthen the hands of moderates in the region and fight extremism of all stripes.

"You agree with me that the Middle East is now in dire need of peace," he said, a reference to internal strife in Iraq, disagreement in Lebanon and elsewhere.

"I am fully convinced that despite all the difficulties, an atmosphere conducive to the resumption of the peace process exists," he said.

As he spoke, Livni, seated on the stage near him, listened attentively, nodding in agreement.

"We have the road map. ... the map is there," he said, adding that he told Olmert and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he was willing to start negotiations.

Rice is set to hold a series of meetings with Abbas and Olmert in the coming weeks.

Livni called for international support to quell extremism across the Middle East.

"To support the moderates is to fight for the same goals we all believe in," she said. "I believe this is the (goal) of the international community, to disempower the extremists and empower the moderates."

She said Abbas faced a difficult task, a nod to Hamas' surprising rise to power in elections a year ago, but reiterated that extremism from other side had no place in the pursuit of peace.

"President Abbas, I am aware of the fact that you face a decision," she said. "Compromising with extremists will not promote anything, but it can lead to further stagnation."

(AFP/Getty)

Peres (left, with Abbas), a former prime minister who has tried to find a common ground in the past, said that while politics was a driving force, it ultimately would be economics that could also help ensure a lasting peace.

He said that Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians should band together to promote an economic zone to drive investment in the region.

"We cannot save the Dead Sea unless we do it together," he said. "We cannot build new industry ... unless we do it together."

He said the three had agreed "to take the whole length of the frontier" the three share, a 500 kilometer-long strip, "and convert it into an ongoing economic zone."

He then appealed to the corporate bosses at Davos to invest.