Excerpts from US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s speech at the annual AIPAC conference in Washington yesterday:
“We recognize that Israel lives in a very dangerous neighborhood. We will look for ways to strengthen and expand our valuable strategic cooperation with Israel so we can preserve Israel’s qualitative military edge and help manage the dangers it confronts. Our collaboration in missile defense is one prominent area that comes to mind in this regard...
“The net result [of the Palestinian violence] is that Israelis have come to question whether a peaceful arrangement with the Palestinians is possible, and Palestinians have come to question whether peaceful coexistence with Israel is compatible with their own political aspirations...
\"We cannot allow the dream of peace to perish, [but] I have no magic formula to present to you for turning the current situation around... Turning to the United States or other outside parties to pressure one or another party or impose a settlement is not the answer.”
“We recognize that Israel lives in a very dangerous neighborhood. We will look for ways to strengthen and expand our valuable strategic cooperation with Israel so we can preserve Israel’s qualitative military edge and help manage the dangers it confronts. Our collaboration in missile defense is one prominent area that comes to mind in this regard...
“The net result [of the Palestinian violence] is that Israelis have come to question whether a peaceful arrangement with the Palestinians is possible, and Palestinians have come to question whether peaceful coexistence with Israel is compatible with their own political aspirations...
\"We cannot allow the dream of peace to perish, [but] I have no magic formula to present to you for turning the current situation around... Turning to the United States or other outside parties to pressure one or another party or impose a settlement is not the answer.”