Israel offered peace talks to the Palestinians and Syria if they move against anti-Israel violence, Israel's foreign minister said, endorsing the US-backed "road map" peace plan again after a year of going it alone.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's speech at an annual conference in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, marked the first time an Israeli official actively endorsed the "road map" since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon put forward his plan to pull Israeli settlements out of the Gaza Strip and a small part of the West Bank.
Sharon called his plan "unilateral disengagement," refusing to coordinate it with the Palestinian administration led by Yasser Arafat, whom Israel shunned, charging that he was involved in terrorism.
`Softened Attitude'
After Arafat's death on Nov. 11, Israel has noticeably softened its attitude, hinting at coordination and cooperation after a Jan. 9 election to replace Arafat.
Shalom took that a step further on Wednesday.
He called for reconvening the summit held in June 2003 at the Jordanian resort of Aqaba, where US President George W. Bush launched the "road map," which leads through stages to the creation of a Palestinian state.
While insisting that the Palestinians must stop violence, Shalom also said that the initial requirements of the "road map" must be implemented simultaneously.
"They must do their part -- stopping terrorism, violence and incitement -- and in parallel we must do our part," he said.
"Israel must do its part by removing unauthorized (settlement) outposts and withdraw to the lines before Sept. 29, 2000," he said, referring to the beginning of the current round of violence, when Israel moved troops back into the West Bank, set up dozens of roadblocks and took control of Palestinian cities and towns.
The "road map" stalled over failure by either side to carry out the first stage. Israel dismantled some outposts in the West Bank but left dozens of others. Meanwhile the Palestinians tried unsuccessfully to stop violence through dialogue with the militants instead moving to "dismantle" their cells according to the "road map" formula.
Palestinians demand a state in all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip with east Jerusalem as its capital, along with the right of return of refugees from the war that followed Israel's 1948 creation to return to their homes with their descendants -- about 4 million people altogether.
Commitment
Shalom insisted that the Palestinians must renounce the refugee demand.
There must be a clear commitment by the Palestinians "that they are prepared to rehabilitate the refugee camps where they are today," he said, a position the Palestinians have rejected for decades.
Shalom said it made no sense to demand a state and also insist that millions of people had to live in "another diaspora" in a neighboring state.
Offering peace talks to the Palestinians if they stop violence, Shalom made a similar gesture to the Syrians.
He said recent peace overtures from Syrian President Bashar Assad "cannot be ignored."
Terrorism
However, he added, "As soon as Syria stops its support of terrorism, we must immediately go to the negotiating table," repeating the Israeli condition that Syria must close the Damascus command posts of radical Palestinian groups like Hamas.
Shalom also suggested a step-by-step process of confidence-building measures, followed by talks on security and then some of the "tough issues" like borders.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of