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World Jewish News
Olmert: My government went further in peace talks than any before
15.03.2009
Mere days before the end of his term, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert used the platform of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday morning to present an overview of his administration's achievements.
Addressing the peace process with the Palestinians, Olmert said that his government had "gone further in the peace negotiations than any previous government." The prime minister added that it was the Palestinian leadership that didn't have enough courage to made the necessary decisions on the path to peace.
He voiced hope that the decades long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians would be resolved in the near future, saying "I have no doubt that the negotiations I've held with the Palestinian Authority will result in a peace accord."
"But we'll have to make dramatic concessions in order to reach a point of signing an agreement," he remarked.
The prime minister criticized the Palestinian leadership, saying "we have yet to reach an agreement due only to their weakness, lack of courage and lack of desire to resolve the conflict. Everything else is just excuses and efforts to derail the talks."
Olmert also broke down the achievements of his administration to the cabinet ministers, mentioning "two well known military efforts" referring to the 2006 Second Lebanon War and the recent Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
"The event in the north (Lebanon border) brought about an unprecedented achievement of quiet in that region of Israel," the prime minister declared. "In regard to Gaza, we made an important effort that hasn't been completed yet and we have yet to achieve the full list of goals that we set out to achieve, but we have brought back to the global awareness the might of the Israel Defense Forces and its power of deterrence."
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
Источник: Haaretz
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