Region | Palestinian Territories
Bush to address Israeli parliament
President George W. Bush will tell Israel's parliament that the US won't negotiate with terrorists or abandon Israel, and the Palestinian people some day "will have the homeland they have long dreamed of."
- Bloomberg
- Published: 13:33 May 15, 2008
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Jerusalem: President George W. Bush will tell Israel's parliament that the US won't negotiate with terrorists or abandon Israel, and the Palestinian people some day "will have the homeland they have long dreamed of."
"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," Bush will tell the Knesset today, according to an advance text of his remarks.
"We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history," Bush says.
Former President Jimmy Carter met last month with leaders of Hamas, listed by the US as a terrorist organization for its attacks on Israelis, and urged the Bush administration to enter into a dialogue with the Palestinian militant group to try to forge a peace deal.
Bush is in Israel to help celebrate the state's 60th anniversary and to encourage Israelis and Palestinians to work toward an agreement on at least the outlines of a Palestinian state. In his speech, Bush gives no timeframe for the establishment of such a state, which earlier in his presidency he pledged would be born before he leaves office in January.
His planned speech to the Knesset is a reflection on the strength of the US-Israeli alliance and an expression of hope that a new Middle East will take shape and be "characterized by a new period of integration and tolerance."
'Hard Choices'
Such a transformation is possible if "a new generation of leaders has the courage to defeat the enemies of freedom, make the hard choices necessary for peace, and stand firm on the solid rock of universal values," Bush says.
Bush reiterated his commitment to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday continued his denunciation of Israel, saying the nation is "dying" and that countries in the region will overthrow its "fabricated regime" if given the opportunity.
The Bush administration accuses Iran of backing the Islamic Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and supporting insurgents in Iraq.
"America stands with you in breaking up terrorist networks and denying the extremists sanctuary," Bush will tell the Knesset. "And America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapon would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."
'Propaganda of Enemies'
Bush rejects the notion that severing links to Israel would make the US better off. "Some people suggest that if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away," he says.
"This is a tired argument that buys into the propaganda of our enemies, and America rejects it utterly."
Bush today toured Masada, the ancient Jewish fortress overlooking the Dead Sea where Jews committed mass suicide after holding out against the Roman army.
Tomorrow, Bush will visit Saudi Arabia.
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