Sunday, February 7, 2010

Netanyahu: Israel wants peace with Syria, 'However negotiations must take place without preconditions,'

(Ynet).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel desires peace with all of its neighbors, following unprecedented threats made by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman towards Syria.

At the opening of the weekly Cabinet meeting Netanyahu said, "Israel aspires to peace accords with all of its neighbors. We have done it with Egypt and Jordan and we can do it with Syria and the Palestinians," he said.

"There are conditions for this. Negotiations must take place without preconditions that mean huge concessions on Israel's part ahead of time. Also, the accord must finally be accompanied by security agreements in order to last for generations."

The prime minister also presented to the Cabinet his plan to limit dependence on oil. "Certain countries which control oil support terror," he said.

"This is a global problem that requires international effort. I spoke of this with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the Polish prime minister, and others, and they have expressed interest in this issue."

"This is an effort that will not bear fruit within the next two or three years, but within a decade we may reach a solution, for example on the issue of dependence on oil for transportation."