(Jpost)."Surely, nobody expects [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu to offer more than what [former prime minister Ehud] Olmert offered [to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas]," Intelligence Affairs Minister Dan Meridor [Likud] told German magazine Der Spiegel in an interview published Tuesday.
Meridor rejected the interviewer's characterization of the current Israeli administration as "hard-line," and pointed out that Abbas currently refuses to negotiate until Israel completely freezes settlement activity, despite the fact that he negotiated with Olmert for three years during the reign of former US president George W. Bush, when Israel's settlement policy was, Meridor said, identical to Netanyahu's.
He also assessed that Abbas's current position was affected by internal issues. "Perhaps [Abbas] reacted the way he did because he doesn't control Gaza, where 40 percent of the territories' population lives and into which he cannot even travel. Perhaps [he] wants even more than just the Palestinian state; but there is nothing more to give," Meridor said.
When confronted with speeches made last week by Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who on a recent tour of the West Bank expressed support for the settlers, Meridor countered: "Ours is a big coalition government with diverging views. What you describe is neither the official policy of Prime Minister Netanyahu nor the official policy of the government."
"We haven't built any new settlements, so we are fulfilling the understanding [we've reached with the previous US administration]. Now there are some ongoing discussions about a compromise," Meridor clarified.
Seemingly drawing a line in the sand, Meridor said, "The Old City with the Jewish Quarter and the Wailing Wall will never be part of an Arab state; all the major Israeli parties share this conviction. There could be a compromise on land in Judea and Samaria. But all Israeli governments have agreed on having a united Jerusalem. This is our clear position, but we can negotiate about Jerusalem. There are no preconditions."
"Final borders," the minister added, "are open for discussion. But we will not return to the line of 1967 - that's for sure."
Meridor expressed optimism about the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, saying, "All in all, I am quite optimistic that things in the Middle East will develop in a positive way. There's something in the air."
Meridor rejected the interviewer's characterization of the current Israeli administration as "hard-line," and pointed out that Abbas currently refuses to negotiate until Israel completely freezes settlement activity, despite the fact that he negotiated with Olmert for three years during the reign of former US president George W. Bush, when Israel's settlement policy was, Meridor said, identical to Netanyahu's.
He also assessed that Abbas's current position was affected by internal issues. "Perhaps [Abbas] reacted the way he did because he doesn't control Gaza, where 40 percent of the territories' population lives and into which he cannot even travel. Perhaps [he] wants even more than just the Palestinian state; but there is nothing more to give," Meridor said.
When confronted with speeches made last week by Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon, who on a recent tour of the West Bank expressed support for the settlers, Meridor countered: "Ours is a big coalition government with diverging views. What you describe is neither the official policy of Prime Minister Netanyahu nor the official policy of the government."
"We haven't built any new settlements, so we are fulfilling the understanding [we've reached with the previous US administration]. Now there are some ongoing discussions about a compromise," Meridor clarified.
Seemingly drawing a line in the sand, Meridor said, "The Old City with the Jewish Quarter and the Wailing Wall will never be part of an Arab state; all the major Israeli parties share this conviction. There could be a compromise on land in Judea and Samaria. But all Israeli governments have agreed on having a united Jerusalem. This is our clear position, but we can negotiate about Jerusalem. There are no preconditions."
"Final borders," the minister added, "are open for discussion. But we will not return to the line of 1967 - that's for sure."
Meridor expressed optimism about the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, saying, "All in all, I am quite optimistic that things in the Middle East will develop in a positive way. There's something in the air."