In a speech at the Annapolis conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he had “come here to extend my hand in peace to the Palestinians and the Arab states, in the name of the people of Israel and the state of Israel.”  Olmert told delegates “The 1967 reality will dramatically change, and it will be unbearably difficult, but we are ready.”

Olmert mentioned the thousands of Israelis killed or wounded in terrorist attacks and the constant rocket attacks on the Negev, but said that despite the terrorism, Israel wants peace now and is ready for “painful compromises.”  Israel is ready for peace with any country, he said, and hopes for normal relations with Arab countries even before reaching a final agreement with the Palestinian Authority.