Bush in Israel - better late than never!
http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2008/01/bush-in-israel-better-late-than-never.html
Better late than never - Bush visits Middle East in the last year of his presidential term. Was this trip really necessary?
This is also, "better late than never:"
Army Radio quoted Ramon as saying that Israel and the Palestinians were somewhat belatedly beginning to discuss the most contentious subjects, and that he believed Bush's visit will help the sides reach an agreement.
"I am happy that we are beginning to talk on the subjects that perhaps we should have begun to talk about earlier," Ramon told Army Radio. "Both sides relate to his [Bush's] requests and his wishes and his visit will certainly accelerate the talks."
Shouldn't all of these issues have been discussed 15 years ago?
Ami Isseroff
Last update - 12:03 09/01/2008
President to meet Israel-PA leaders in bid to boost peace talks
Bush arrives in Israel for first presidential visit
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Vice Premier Haim Ramon said Wednesday that U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the region this week would "certainly" help accelerate peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Bush is due to arrive in Israel on Wednesday for a visit aimed at advancing the peace process in the wake of the Annapolis Summit last November.
The visit, Bush's first time in Israel since he entered the White House seven years ago, comes a day after Israel agreed to hold talks with the Palestinians over the conflict's core issues.
Army Radio quoted Ramon as saying that Israel and the Palestinians were somewhat belatedly beginning to discuss the most contentious subjects, and that he believed Bush's visit will help the sides reach an agreement.
"I am happy that we are beginning to talk on the subjects that perhaps we should have begun to talk about earlier," Ramon told Army Radio. "Both sides relate to his [Bush's] requests and his wishes and his visit will certainly accelerate the talks."
Upon arrival, the U.S. president will be greeted at Ben-Gurion International Airport by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, President Shimon Peres, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, Israel's chief rabbis and other Israeli dignitaries.
After a ceremony featuring speeches by Bush, Olmert and Peres, the U.S. president will meet with Peres to discuss steps to improve the Palestinian economy and support regional financial initiatives.
Bush is then expected to meet with Olmert for a joint meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak that will touch upon negotiations with the Palestinian Authority as well as Israel's security needs. "We want the visit to succeed and produce more progress in talks," a government source said Tuesday.
Israel will also present its stance regarding the U.S. military assessment that claimed Iran has abandoned its nuclear armament program. Olmert, Livni and Barak will stress the importance of continuing to put pressure on Tehran by using Security Council sanctions. They will also provide Israeli information on Iran's nuclear program.
The U.S. entourage includes hundreds of advisers, security agents and even cooks, who will supervise the food served to Bush at Jerusalem's King David Hotel.
About 1,000 rooms in three different hotels have been booked to lodge the massive delegation. In honor of Bush, Jerusalem's municipal council has decided to shut off the lights illuminating the Old City's walls to allow Bush to see it under the natural moonlight.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Olmert agreed to hold talks with the Palestinian Authority on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - a decision that could lead to Yisrael Beiteinu's departure from the coalition.
According to the deal, which was first reported in Haaretz earlier this week, all the core issues in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for a final-status agreement will be discussed in a special committee headed by Livni and Ahmed Qureia.
"Today the two leaders agreed to authorize the negotiating teams to conduct direct and ongoing negotiations on all the core issues," Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said after the prime minister met PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem. "We expect that to start expeditiously."
The core issues are considered to be the three most daunting and controversial matters at the center of the conflict, and include the question of delineating borders, Palestinian refugees' right of return and sovereignty over Jerusalem.
The remaining issues such as security, trade, economics, law and civil issues will be dealt with in separate committees. Olmert and PA President Abbas will monitor the progress of the negotiations and will contribute to resolving deadlocks. Neither side gave a start date for the talks, although Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the talks would begin immediately.
"We hope that the Israeli government ... would refrain from any act that may preempt ... the issues of permanent status negotiations and will stop the military attacks in the West Bank and Gaza," Erekat said.
Lieberman threat
The minister for strategic affairs and chairman of the hard-line Yisrael Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman, said Tuesday that he does not intend to resign during Bush's visit, but does plan to hold a meeting with the prime minister for clarification on the core issues to be discussed.
"Lieberman doesn't intend to cause drama and crises and resign during a visit by the president of the United States," said sources close to the minister. "But with the direction that this government is taking, there will be no other option but to quit the government."
Olmert and Lieberman met Tuesday for talks on security preparations ahead of Bush's visit, but it is not clear whether they discussed Olmert's decision to engage the Palestinians with talks over core issues.
"We think the visit is an opportunity to energize the momentum of the post-Annapolis dialogue between us and the Palestinians," Regev said.
Source
This is also, "better late than never:"
Army Radio quoted Ramon as saying that Israel and the Palestinians were somewhat belatedly beginning to discuss the most contentious subjects, and that he believed Bush's visit will help the sides reach an agreement.
"I am happy that we are beginning to talk on the subjects that perhaps we should have begun to talk about earlier," Ramon told Army Radio. "Both sides relate to his [Bush's] requests and his wishes and his visit will certainly accelerate the talks."
Shouldn't all of these issues have been discussed 15 years ago?
Ami Isseroff
Last update - 12:03 09/01/2008
President to meet Israel-PA leaders in bid to boost peace talks
Bush arrives in Israel for first presidential visit
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Vice Premier Haim Ramon said Wednesday that U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the region this week would "certainly" help accelerate peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Bush is due to arrive in Israel on Wednesday for a visit aimed at advancing the peace process in the wake of the Annapolis Summit last November.
The visit, Bush's first time in Israel since he entered the White House seven years ago, comes a day after Israel agreed to hold talks with the Palestinians over the conflict's core issues.
Army Radio quoted Ramon as saying that Israel and the Palestinians were somewhat belatedly beginning to discuss the most contentious subjects, and that he believed Bush's visit will help the sides reach an agreement.
"I am happy that we are beginning to talk on the subjects that perhaps we should have begun to talk about earlier," Ramon told Army Radio. "Both sides relate to his [Bush's] requests and his wishes and his visit will certainly accelerate the talks."
Upon arrival, the U.S. president will be greeted at Ben-Gurion International Airport by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, President Shimon Peres, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, Israel's chief rabbis and other Israeli dignitaries.
After a ceremony featuring speeches by Bush, Olmert and Peres, the U.S. president will meet with Peres to discuss steps to improve the Palestinian economy and support regional financial initiatives.
Bush is then expected to meet with Olmert for a joint meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak that will touch upon negotiations with the Palestinian Authority as well as Israel's security needs. "We want the visit to succeed and produce more progress in talks," a government source said Tuesday.
Israel will also present its stance regarding the U.S. military assessment that claimed Iran has abandoned its nuclear armament program. Olmert, Livni and Barak will stress the importance of continuing to put pressure on Tehran by using Security Council sanctions. They will also provide Israeli information on Iran's nuclear program.
The U.S. entourage includes hundreds of advisers, security agents and even cooks, who will supervise the food served to Bush at Jerusalem's King David Hotel.
About 1,000 rooms in three different hotels have been booked to lodge the massive delegation. In honor of Bush, Jerusalem's municipal council has decided to shut off the lights illuminating the Old City's walls to allow Bush to see it under the natural moonlight.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Olmert agreed to hold talks with the Palestinian Authority on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - a decision that could lead to Yisrael Beiteinu's departure from the coalition.
According to the deal, which was first reported in Haaretz earlier this week, all the core issues in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for a final-status agreement will be discussed in a special committee headed by Livni and Ahmed Qureia.
"Today the two leaders agreed to authorize the negotiating teams to conduct direct and ongoing negotiations on all the core issues," Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said after the prime minister met PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem. "We expect that to start expeditiously."
The core issues are considered to be the three most daunting and controversial matters at the center of the conflict, and include the question of delineating borders, Palestinian refugees' right of return and sovereignty over Jerusalem.
The remaining issues such as security, trade, economics, law and civil issues will be dealt with in separate committees. Olmert and PA President Abbas will monitor the progress of the negotiations and will contribute to resolving deadlocks. Neither side gave a start date for the talks, although Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the talks would begin immediately.
"We hope that the Israeli government ... would refrain from any act that may preempt ... the issues of permanent status negotiations and will stop the military attacks in the West Bank and Gaza," Erekat said.
Lieberman threat
The minister for strategic affairs and chairman of the hard-line Yisrael Beiteinu party, Avigdor Lieberman, said Tuesday that he does not intend to resign during Bush's visit, but does plan to hold a meeting with the prime minister for clarification on the core issues to be discussed.
"Lieberman doesn't intend to cause drama and crises and resign during a visit by the president of the United States," said sources close to the minister. "But with the direction that this government is taking, there will be no other option but to quit the government."
Olmert and Lieberman met Tuesday for talks on security preparations ahead of Bush's visit, but it is not clear whether they discussed Olmert's decision to engage the Palestinians with talks over core issues.
"We think the visit is an opportunity to energize the momentum of the post-Annapolis dialogue between us and the Palestinians," Regev said.
Source
posted by News Service at
11:46 AM
Bookmark this post:
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors. Originally posted at http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2008/01/bush-in-israel-better-late-than-never.html. Please do link to these articles, quote from them and forward them by email to friends with this notice. Other uses require written permission of the author.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home