World

Olmert: Israel Won't Wait Forever

May 24, 2006 / 1:35 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday that Israel would be a "willing partner in peace" with the Palestinians, but would draw its own borders in the West Bank should it conclude it has no negotiating partner.

"We cannot wait for the Palestinians forever," Olmert told members of the House of Representatives and Senate gathered in the House chamber.

"Our deepest wish is to build a better future for our region, hand in hand with a Palestinian partner, but if not, we will move forward, but not alone," he said, alluding to promised U.S. support.

In other developments:

Israel sees Tuesday's White House summit as a success because President Bush praised Olmert's plan for unilateral Israeli withdrawals from large parts of the West Bank, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. Though the U.S. prefers negotiations, both sides agree that there's little of hope of progress with Hamas controlling the Palestinian Authority.

A Gaza security chief loyal to moderate President Mahmoud Abbas was killed when his car blew up Wednesday, the second attack on security commanders in the volatile area in less than a week. It was not immediately clear who planted the bomb. The attack came during an increasingly bloody power struggle between the Hamas government and Abbas.

Masked gunmen kidnapped three Hamas militants outside a Gaza mosque, shot them and dumped them with stomach and leg wounds at a gas station, reports Berger. One of them died. Hamas, which controls the Palestinian Authority, blamed the rival Fatah movement. The factional fighting is growing more bloody, and has raised fears of civil war.

Olmert drew a sustained standing ovation from Congress when he declared, "We will not yield to terror," a reference to suicide attacks on Israelis such as those that killed a 16-year-old American high school student observing the Passover holiday in Israel this year. Daniel Wultz's parents sat in the House chamber, sobbing, as Olmert mentioned their son.

Olmert also drew long applause for tough words condemning whet he said is Iran's drive to build nuclear weapons and the escalating anti-Semitic rhetoric from its leader.

"If we don't take Iran's bellicose rhetoric seriously now, we will be forced to take its nuclear aggression seriously later," Olmert said.

Olmert said the West Bank withdrawal is vital to Israel's security and the cause of peace and cannot go forward without U.S. support.

Tuesday's White House backing for Israel's plan to unilaterally set its borders with the Palestinians should their new Hamas leaders refuse to disarm and renounce their call for Israel's destruction was an unexpected policy shift.

A few years ago, reports Berger, President Bush said Mideast peace was a top priority of his administration. But Israeli analyst Alon Pinkas says today, Mr. Bush is a leader "who has a different agenda, who is domestically, politically, severely weakened lately, who has Iran, and oil prices and Iraq to contend and deal with."

Analysts say that's bad for Olmert, who needs U.S. backing for a West Bank withdrawal plan that is opposed by the Palestinians and the Arab world.

From the U.S. Capitol podium on Wednesday, Olmert called on the moderate Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, to seek a negotiated solution — the preferred route for both Olmert and Bush.

"With a genuine Palestinian partner for peace, I believe we can reach an agreement on all the issues that divide us," the Israeli leader said.

If the Palestinians "ignore our outstretched hand for peace," Olmert said, "Israel will seek other alternatives to promote our future and the prospects of hope in the Middle East."

"The Israeli prime minister's address to Congress comes at a critical time, when the Middle East is in crisis, Israel is at the heart of the Iran debate, and the U.N. Security Council, today, considers the Palestinian question," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.

Hamas' victory in January Palestinian parliamentary elections damped peace prospects because of the group's violently anti-Israel ideology. The Bush administration considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization, and has acknowledged the obstacles Israel is liable to face in trying to make peace with Abbas, who was elected separately last year.

In Jerusalem, a senior Cabinet member close to Olmert said if Hamas does not recognize Israel and renounce violence within six months Israel will move ahead with plans to unilaterally draw its final borders by 2010.

"If these things don't happen, we won't wait for years, but rather we will wait until the end of this year," Haim Ramon told Israel Radio. "This will be a year of diplomacy."

"First negotiations, and after the negotiations, if it doesn't succeed and it becomes clear that there is no (Palestinian) partner, we will move ahead with the consolidation plan," Ramon said.

The Palestinian security chief killed Wednesday was identified as Nabil Hodhod, head of the elite Preventive Security Service in central Gaza. The security branch has been spearheading the confrontation against the Hamas militia.

Security officials said Hodhod had just gotten into his car when a bomb went off. Hodhod was killed and his deputy wounded by the blast, the officials said.

In response to the shooting of the three Hamas militants earlier in the day, hundreds of gunmen loyal to Hamas marched through the streets of Gaza City in military-style formation, raising assault rifles and copies of the Quran.

In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers shot and killed four Palestinians and wounded 33 others, Palestinians said, after an Israeli arrest raid turned violent.

The Israeli force captured militants including Mohammed Shubaki, an Islamic Jihad leader, and took him out of Ramallah. The army said an undercover Israeli unit in a sedan was fired on by militants and set ablaze, and regular forces were confronted by a huge riot and gunfire.