(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called earlier today on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to immediately start direct peace talks.
In a speech today in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel had taken measures to advance peace, such as removing roadblocks in the West Bank and imposing a freeze on building in Jewish settlements.
“Israel has taken other steps as well, while to its regret, the Palestinians still refuse to meet and even tried to prevent Israel’s acceptance into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” Netanyahu said, according to an e-mailed statement from his office today.
(washingtonpost). Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's national security adviser said Tuesday that the push for Palestinian statehood has weakened Israel's standing in the world and suggested that the outlook is bleak for U.S.-mediated negotiations in the region.
Arad's comments, made to a gathering in Jerusalem of the Jewish Agency, a body that promotes Jewish immigration to Israel, illustrated the challenges President Obama faces in laying the groundwork for meaningful peace talks, as well as reassuring an increasingly impatient Israel that the United States can stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. Obama is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu in Washington on July 6.
"The creation of a Palestinian state remains the choice of many. But in the process, have you failed to notice that the more we lend legitimacy to a Palestinian state, the more it comes at the expense of our own?" Arad told the audience, made up largely of American Jewish supporters of Israel.
Arad described the Palestinians as "major actors in the de-legitimization of Israel" and questioned Israel's decision to back talks on Palestinian statehood in the first place.
"In trying to make peace" via the indirect U.S.-led talks, "we are embracing an adversary who is conducting a very effective battle against us internationally," he said. "Maybe we should have acted somewhat differently -- less zealous to champion the Palestinians and more eager to defend our own ranks."
Arad said, nevertheless, that Israel still aspires to peace with the Palestinians, as well as with Syria. But he was skeptical of the value of Israel putting forth any bold new peace initiative, as Defense Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader Tzipi Livni reportedly advocate.
"If we do make an initiative, which incorporates further concessions, it would only validate their current rejectionist position, leading them to say, 'If we wait long enough there will be some more,' " Arad said, referring to the Palestinians.
In a speech today in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel had taken measures to advance peace, such as removing roadblocks in the West Bank and imposing a freeze on building in Jewish settlements.
“Israel has taken other steps as well, while to its regret, the Palestinians still refuse to meet and even tried to prevent Israel’s acceptance into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” Netanyahu said, according to an e-mailed statement from his office today.
(washingtonpost). Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's national security adviser said Tuesday that the push for Palestinian statehood has weakened Israel's standing in the world and suggested that the outlook is bleak for U.S.-mediated negotiations in the region.
Arad's comments, made to a gathering in Jerusalem of the Jewish Agency, a body that promotes Jewish immigration to Israel, illustrated the challenges President Obama faces in laying the groundwork for meaningful peace talks, as well as reassuring an increasingly impatient Israel that the United States can stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. Obama is scheduled to meet with Netanyahu in Washington on July 6.
"The creation of a Palestinian state remains the choice of many. But in the process, have you failed to notice that the more we lend legitimacy to a Palestinian state, the more it comes at the expense of our own?" Arad told the audience, made up largely of American Jewish supporters of Israel.
Arad described the Palestinians as "major actors in the de-legitimization of Israel" and questioned Israel's decision to back talks on Palestinian statehood in the first place.
"In trying to make peace" via the indirect U.S.-led talks, "we are embracing an adversary who is conducting a very effective battle against us internationally," he said. "Maybe we should have acted somewhat differently -- less zealous to champion the Palestinians and more eager to defend our own ranks."
Arad said, nevertheless, that Israel still aspires to peace with the Palestinians, as well as with Syria. But he was skeptical of the value of Israel putting forth any bold new peace initiative, as Defense Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader Tzipi Livni reportedly advocate.
"If we do make an initiative, which incorporates further concessions, it would only validate their current rejectionist position, leading them to say, 'If we wait long enough there will be some more,' " Arad said, referring to the Palestinians.
