NEVER AGAIN!!!!
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Jerusalem, U.S. Hint Israel-PA Talks will Enable Action vs. Iran
Nisan 30, 5769, 24 April 09 11:43
by Gil Ronen(IsraelNN.com) Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon clarified Thursday earlier comments in which he reportedly said that progress on key issues with the P.A. depended on U.S. action on Iran.
According to a Washington Post report Wednesday, Israeli officials said that “the new Israeli government will not move ahead on the core issues of peace talks with the Palestinians until it sees progress in U.S. efforts to stop Iran's suspected pursuit of a nuclear weapon and limit Tehran's rising influence in the region.” The phrase "core isues" in this context usually refers to the final lines of an Israeli retreat, the status of the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, and the flooding of Israel with Arab "refugees."
The respected Washington daily attributed the position to “top government officials familiar with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's developing policy on the issue,” and in the next sentence quoted Ayalon as saying "it's a crucial condition if we want to move forward," thus creating the clear impression that the condition had been cited by Ayalon himself. “If we want to have a real political process with the Palestinians, then you can't have the Iranians undermining and sabotaging," he said.
The report quotes Ayalon as saying that “realistically, we need to keep Iran at bay.”
“Until that happens, the Israeli government will largely limit itself to matters such as trying to improve the Palestinian economy and strengthen its civil institutions,” the report cited him as saying (without directly quoting him).
However, in an interview with Associated Press Ayalon said that this was not an Israeli condition for going ahead with negotiations with the P.A. "We should continue on the path of peace with the Palestinians as if there is no Iran threat," Ayalon said. “Simultaneously, we should move forward on stopping Iran as if there was no Palestinian issue.”
"But this is not a condition for going ahead with the Palestinians," he told the news agency.
If Ayalon’s second interview was a reversal of an earlier statement to the Washington Post, it would not be his first such reversal in recent weeks. Prime Minister Netanyahu, too, has been caught flip-flopping on the issue of talks with the P.A..
In any case, Ayalon continued to hint at a connection between the Iranian matter and the P.A.. in the second interview, and explained that Tehran is working to derail any chance of peace with the P.A.. "Realistically and effectively, if we want to go on the path without additional obstacles and dangers to the process, we have to rein in Iran," he said, citing its nuclear program, support for terrorists and the dissemination of extremist ideology.
Clinton makes linkage too
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also made a connection between the Iranian issue and talks with the P.A.. She said Arab nations had made clear to her that Israel must be committed to the Palestinian “peace process” if it wants help on the matter of Iran. "For Israel to get the kind of strong support it is looking for vis-a-vis Iran, it can't stay on the sidelines with respect to the Palestinians and the peace efforts. They go hand in hand," she said in testimony before the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also made a connection between the Iranian issue and talks with the P.A.. She said Arab nations had made clear to her that Israel must be committed to the Palestinian “peace process” if it wants help on the matter of Iran. "For Israel to get the kind of strong support it is looking for vis-a-vis Iran, it can't stay on the sidelines with respect to the Palestinians and the peace efforts. They go hand in hand," she said in testimony before the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
"They (Arab countries) believe that Israel's willingness to re-enter into discussions with the Palestinian Authority strengthens them in being able to deal with Iran," she added.
U.S. special envoy George Mitchell has told Jewish groups he was surprised at how often Arab leaders brought up the subject of Iran during his recent trip to the region.
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