Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Yehuda Lancry said that Israel accepts Palestinian statehood as a solution to the Mideast conflict. Lancry told the General Assembly on Friday that Israel had accepted U.S. President Bush's vision of peace in which two states - Jewish and Arab - exist "side by side in peace and security." The basis for Lancry's statement is unclear, as no Israeli government has ever had a discussion or made a decision to accept the creation of a Palestinian state under any conditions. Ministers Yitzchak Levy and Uzi Landau noted this discrepancy at today's Cabinet meeting, and Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he would investigate the matter.
Although Prime Minister Sharon has expressed support for some form of future Palestinian statehood, he insists that it be preceded by an absolute halt to all terrorism and incitement. Both Sharon and Netanyahu said today that Lancry's statement was not made with their knowledge or consent. Unnamed government officials said that Lancry's remarks reflect statements made in the United Nations by Netanyahu's predecessor in the Foreign Ministry, Shimon Peres.
The gist of Lancry's remarks was that the Palestinians have not shown any indication of an intention to stop murdering Israelis, despite Israel's willingness to reach an agreement with them. A UN press release quoted Lancry as follows:
"Israel's insistence on security is not some blind obsession... not some commodity to be bartered and traded, to be bestowed and withdrawn, subject to the whims of the Palestinians. It must be the central pillar, the unalterable foundation, and the most integral stratum of any concept of peace. But in the more than two years since Palestinian terrorism became a daily reality for the people of Israel, and despite the sporadic condemnations by Chairman Arafat of certain acts of Palestinian terror, never has the Palestinian leadership taken any significant action to give substance to its rhetoric.
"The basic concept of peace remains the one articulated by the Assembly more than half a century ago, and refined by the Security Council in resolutions 242 and 338. More recently, that vision was reaffirmed by President Bush's speech on 24 June, by Council resolution 1397, and by the "road map" now being formulated by the Quartet. Israel has accepted the vision of peace articulated by President Bush, which included two states living side by side in peace and security.
"But all those formulae are destined to failure if they are not rooted in the absolute rejection of the strategy of terrorism and the adoption of a clear policy of reconciliation and coexistence. Efforts to bring peace to the Middle East must consider the end of terrorism as the price of political progress, not as its reward..."
Although Prime Minister Sharon has expressed support for some form of future Palestinian statehood, he insists that it be preceded by an absolute halt to all terrorism and incitement. Both Sharon and Netanyahu said today that Lancry's statement was not made with their knowledge or consent. Unnamed government officials said that Lancry's remarks reflect statements made in the United Nations by Netanyahu's predecessor in the Foreign Ministry, Shimon Peres.
The gist of Lancry's remarks was that the Palestinians have not shown any indication of an intention to stop murdering Israelis, despite Israel's willingness to reach an agreement with them. A UN press release quoted Lancry as follows:
"Israel's insistence on security is not some blind obsession... not some commodity to be bartered and traded, to be bestowed and withdrawn, subject to the whims of the Palestinians. It must be the central pillar, the unalterable foundation, and the most integral stratum of any concept of peace. But in the more than two years since Palestinian terrorism became a daily reality for the people of Israel, and despite the sporadic condemnations by Chairman Arafat of certain acts of Palestinian terror, never has the Palestinian leadership taken any significant action to give substance to its rhetoric.
"The basic concept of peace remains the one articulated by the Assembly more than half a century ago, and refined by the Security Council in resolutions 242 and 338. More recently, that vision was reaffirmed by President Bush's speech on 24 June, by Council resolution 1397, and by the "road map" now being formulated by the Quartet. Israel has accepted the vision of peace articulated by President Bush, which included two states living side by side in peace and security.
"But all those formulae are destined to failure if they are not rooted in the absolute rejection of the strategy of terrorism and the adoption of a clear policy of reconciliation and coexistence. Efforts to bring peace to the Middle East must consider the end of terrorism as the price of political progress, not as its reward..."