Posted on 02/06/2005 10:59:52 AM PST by Nachum
JERUSALEM - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) said Sunday that Israel has some "hard decisions" to make as it moves toward peace with the Palestinians and the creation of a neighboring democracy.
On her first trip to the Middle East since taking over at the State Department, Rice also urged both sides to live up to their promises.
"This is a hopeful time, but it is a time also of great responsibility for all of us to make certain that we act on the words that we speak," Rice said before meeting with Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon (news - web sites).
"You're among friends," Sharon told her.
Rice was heading to the West Bank on Monday for talks with the newly election Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.
Ahead of her session with Sharon, Rice saw Israel's foreign minister, Silvan Shalom. "We will ask of our partners and our friends in Israel that Israel continues to make the hard decisions that must be taken in order to promote peace and ... the emergence of a democratic Palestinian state," Rice said at the appearance.
At a stop at Yad Vashem, the Israeli memorial for the 6 million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II, Rice declared: "This is a time of optimism because fundamental changes are under way in the Middle East.
She cited the Palestinian election and thanks Egypt for holding an upcoming summit meeting. Rice reassured Israelis of President bush's commitment to the peace process and getting it back on track. "This is a time of opportunity and a time we have to seize."
Shalom thanked her for coming, and said Rice and the United States can help end "the infrastructure of terrorism" and "enable us to build an infrastructure of peace."
Earlier Sunday, in Turkey, Rice said the Bush administration wants help from Turkey and other countries to "sustain the momentum" toward Middle East peace.
She also sought to reassure Turkey that the administration wants Iraq (news - web sites) to remain whole and at peace with its neighbors.
"Israel deserves to live in peace in the Middle East and the Jewish people deserve the respect of their neighbors," Rice said following meetings with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
"We have been very clear that incitement cannot be ignored," Rice said, adding that Arab governments cannot consistently say they support peace while tolerating horrific characterizations of Jews in the media.
Gul sought to play down both anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiment in the region.
Now that "Israel and the Palestinians do have their own governments it will be possible," for other countries in the region to be more helpful in the peace process, Gul said.
"The negative sentiments that each side has for the other will disappear when the peace process comes into effect and the Palestinian and Israeli states live in peace, as good neighbors," he added.
Turkey is an important U.S. ally straddling Europe and the Middle East. Anti-U.S. sentiments have been strong in Turkey since the start of the war in neighboring Iraq.
After the Middle East, Rice returns to Europe this week for stops in Italy, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Some of the European stops pave the way for Bush's own European trip later this month.
Turks worry the war in Iraq could lead to the disintegration of the neighboring country and the creation of a Kurdish state in the northern areas. That could embolden Kurds in southeastern Turkey, where the Turkish army has been battling Kurdish rebels since 1984. The fight has left 37,000 dead.
"I'm here really in part to say to the Turks that we are fully committed, fully committed, to a unified Iraq," Rice said aboard the plane to Turkey. "We are making that message clear through all channels that we have in Iraq."
Relations between the United States and Turkey have been strained since Turkey's parliament in 2003 refused to host U.S. soldiers for the Iraq invasion, which most Turks strongly opposed.
Oh for the days of George Schultz and Reagan.
Why can't Israel just say "NO"?
It isn't in Israel's interest to say "no" to the United States, particularly when no specific demands are being made of us. So long as the PA takes no concrete action against Hamas, Islamic Jihad, et al the Bush administration is unlikely to make such demands.
Yes, I know about the arrests of PFLP officials. The PFLP is tiny and an irritant to the PA. It's window dressing and removes an internal threat to Abbas. It's something he could do safely with little or no risk to himself.
Seems as if the administration suffers from multiple personality disorder.
When she says hard decisions, I think she means which missiles to arm their jets with.
Death To all islamofascist terrorists!
I was not aware that the security of Israel was not our business.
But, No Arab state in Eretz Yisrael. EVER!
We subsidize them to the tune of about 4 billion a year
If the Israelis don't like Rice making statements like that they could tell us to keep our money couldn't they?
Small chance of that happening though
Also for the flow of Oil and lives of thousands of americans living in Israel.
AMEN, tanglewood! We need to let Israel take care of its own problems in their own way. Dividing Jerusalem will be the downfall of the world as we know it. We will suffer greatly when that happens. It's called the judgement of God.
Who're you trying to kid?
As for the "lives of thousands of Americans living in Israel".
#1. The majority of those Americans are in fact dual citizens who are choosing of their own volition to live in the State of Israel. Many serve or have served in the Israeli military
#2. The Israeli military is more than competent enough for the tasks they face. Except for Patriot Missiles in 1991/2003 Israel has never needed American soldiers to defend her territory (or take someone else's for that matter)
What Israel gets from us is money (a lot), equipment (to a lesser extent than in the past due to a burdgeoning Israeli defense industry that sells to among other people - Red China) and unquestioning diplomatic backing.
If secretary Rice's comments signal a change to the latter then that's good news.
Please, We are not raising them and our mideast policy is no driven by Israel.
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