Region | Palestinian Territories
US commitment to Israel security is enduring and unshakable - Cheney
US Vice-President Dick Cheney said on Saturday that Washington would never pressure Israel to take steps that would endanger its survival, and hoped to see a ‘new beginning' for the Palestinian people in their own state.
- AP
- Published: 00:46 March 23, 2008
- US Vice-President Dick Cheney (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during a press conference on Saturday at the prime minister's residence in occupied Jerusalem.
- Image Credit: AP
Occupied Jerusalem: US Vice-President Dick Cheney said on Saturday that Washington would never pressure Israel to take steps that would endanger its survival, and hoped to see a ‘new beginning' for the Palestinian people in their own state.
"America's commitment to Israel's security is enduring and unshakable," Cheney told reporters shortly after arriving in occupied Jerusalem for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
"The United States will never pressure Israel to take steps that threaten its security," he said.
Cheney will be meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders over the next two days to try to coax them to follow through on promises to forge a peace deal by the end of the year.
Cheney reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state, and assured Palestinian leaders that "they, too, can be certain of America's goodwill" as it tries to help Israel and the Palestinians reach an accord.
"We want to see a resolution to the conflict, an end to the terrorism that has caused so much grief to Israelis, and a new beginning for the Palestinian people," he said.
The vice-president also said, "We must not and will not ignore darkening shadows of the situation in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Syria and Iran," and the threats these areas pose to Israel.
Talks in Saudi Arabia
The vice-president was coming from Riyadh, where he stopped as part of a nine-day trip that has included surprise stops in Iraq and Afghanistan and a visit to Oman.
He is scheduled to visit Turkey before returning to the US.
Cheney met with Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz on his horse farm Friday for about four and a half hours, and also sat down with Oil Minister Ali Al Nuaimi, amid rising election-year anger among US voters about soaring energy costs.
Cheney and his host discussed "Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, energy, Israeli-Palestinian issues, some bilateral questions before us," an official said.
"I can't tell you much about the conversations themselves, these are especially confidential and private conversations," the official said as Cheney attended a classified briefing at the US embassy. Among the topics on his agenda in Ramallah today is what to do about the Gaza Strip, the impoverished Palestinian territory under a strict Israeli blockade and controlled for nine months by the Islamist Hamas group.
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