Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet with US President
George W. Bush today, seeking a post-election picture of US policy
towards Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
His visit comes in the wake of mid-term elections which have
seen huge losses for Bush's Republican party.
"It is the right time... to exchange views with the president on
what is expected in the coming two years," Olmert said before
leaving Israel.
"The main subjects will be the situation in the Middle East and
the Iranian issue," he told reporters, referring to Tehran's
nuclear program, which the US says could lead to the development of
atomic weapons.
Israel, widely believed to be the only country in the Middle
East to have nuclear weapons, fears a nuclear Iran would pose a
threat to its existence.
Iran, whose president has called for the Jewish state's
destruction, says it intends to use its uranium enrichment program
for electricity generation.
Olmert told reporters traveling with him that Iran needed to
fear the consequences of not heeding international demands over its
nuclear program.
"If someone wants to reach a compromise with Iran he must
understand that Iran won't be ready to do so unless it is afraid,"
Olmert said.
Iran said on Sunday its Revolutionary Guards would respond
swiftly if Israel attacked the Islamic Republic.
"If Israel takes such a stupid step and attacks, the answer of
Iran and its Revolutionary Guard will be rapid, firm and
destructive and it will be given in a few seconds," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a news
conference.
Last week's mid-term US election demonstrated the deep popular
dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq, but also raised speculation
in Israel that Bush could try to cap his two-term presidency with
progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Olmert heaped praise on moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas last week, calling him "upfront, decent and against terror,"
in an apparent signal that he would be the focus of any new US or
Israeli peace efforts.
"The Palestinian issue is on the agenda. There is no way we can
ignore it. We have to find the best partner," said Olmert.
In the Newsweek interview, Olmert said the recent
inclusion of a far-right politician into his cabinet would not
alter his position toward the Palestinians. "You can read my lips.
I'm ready for territorial compromises, and I haven't changed my
mind," he said.
But any moves on the Palestinian front would likely require a
remake of the government headed by Hamas, an Islamist group that
has rejected demands by the US and other peace brokers to change
its position towards Israel.
Ahead of Olmert's visit to the United States, the US on Saturday
vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning an Israeli
attack in Gaza that killed 19 Palestinian civilians and urged a
quick withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The measure, proposed by Qatar and backed by Arab, Islamic and
nonaligned nations, would have called on the Palestinian Authority
to end violence, urged the international community to take steps to
stabilise the situation, and condemned Israeli military operations
in Gaza, calling on the Jewish state to withdraw troops.
Nine of the council's 15 members voted for the measure, while
four abstained.
But the "no" vote cast by US Ambassador John Bolton, his second
since he arrived at UN headquarters a little over a year ago, was
enough to kill the resolution.
But Bolton said the US was "disturbed at the language of the
resolution which is in many places biased against Israel and
politically motivated."
The suggestion of a mechanism to protect civilians would raise
false hopes, he said, adding that he was disturbed the measure made
no mention of Palestine's Hamas government, which refuses to
acknowledge Israel's right to exist.
(China Daily November 13, 2006)
