Marking the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding, US President George W. Bush yesterday criticized the deadly tactics of extremist groups and denounced anti-Semitism, especially by those who want to wipe the nation "off the map."
“We believe that religious liberty is fundamental to civilized society, so we condemn anti-Semitism in all forms whether by those who openly question Israel’s right to exist, or by others who quietly excuse them,” Bush said.
In a speech to the Knesset, or parliament, Bush said that the US had an unbreakable bond with Israel. He said Americans believe that Israel has a right to defend itself from extremists and “killers pledged to its destruction.”
“Some people suggest that if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away,” Bush said. “This is a tired argument that buys into the propaganda of the enemies of peace and America utterly rejects it. Israel’s population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States of America stands with you.”
Bush’s five-day journey to the Middle East, which was to take him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, represents another effort to push peace talks forward as his time in office winds down. Israel and the Palestinians hope to reach an agreement before Bush leaves office next January.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who spoke before Bush, said his nation was ready for peace and that he is working on the US vision of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
Olmert said he is committed to carrying out Bush’s vision of forming an independent Palestinian state next to Israel. And when a deal is reached, Olmert says the divided parliament and Israeli public will rally behind it.
“When the day comes for a historic peace agreement between us and our Palestinian neighbors. It will be brought to the approval of this house,” Olmert said.
A rocket fired from Gaza exploded in a shopping center in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Wednesday, wounding at least 14 people, rescue officials said, just as Olmert was discussing the violence with Bush and threatening large-scale retaliation.
The rocket ripped through the roof of the mall, causing a large chunk of the roof to collapse in a huge pile of rubble and twisted metal, hitting a clinic. Four windows were blown out of the side of the building.
By hitting a crowded shopping center in a major Israeli city just as Bush was in the country, Gaza militants significantly increased the likelihood that Israel’s army chief would carry out his newly expressed desire to send large numbers of ground forces into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Late on Wednesday, Israeli aircraft fired twice at a group of Hamas militants in Gaza City, killing two and wounding five, Hamas officials and witnesses said. The airstrikes hit the Shajaiyeh neighborhood of Gaza City, a militant stronghold near the Israeli border.
A hospital official said a woman and her young daughter were seriously wounded, along with another child. Another woman was seriously wounded, and several other people were slightly wounded, said the official, Leah Malul of Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2