http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a5yIgb_yh7gQ&refer=politics
Olmert Rejects Linking Iraq to Israeli-Arab Disputes (Update3) By Gwen Ackerman and Todd Zeranski Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the linkage made by the Iraq Study Group between resolving or reducing U.S. involvement in Iraq and finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. ``The U.S.'s problems in Iraq are entirely independent of the problems between us and the Palestinians,'' Olmert said at a news conference today in Tel Aviv with Israeli newspaper editors. ``No one needs to encourage Israel to move forward with a peace initiative.'' The prime minister was responding to the Iraq Study Group's conclusion in a report released in Washington yesterday that the U.S. cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it makes a ``sustained'' commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and a future Palestine and to resolving Israeli differences with Lebanon and Syria. The panel, headed by former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Representative Lee Hamilton, said the U.S. should aim to withdraw most of its combat forces from Iraq by the first quarter of 2008, and engage Iran and Syria diplomatically. Olmert declined to address the issues raised in the report concerning Iraq itself, saying they are ``first and foremost an American issue.'' He said conditions aren't right for resuming peace talks with Syria. Syria ``I don't think that there is a Syrian will to fight a war with us and we don't want to fight them, but that doesn't mean that the conditions are ripe for us to hold negotiations with them,'' Olmert said. The Israeli leader said he would like to see Syria ``separate'' itself from the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia in Lebanon as well as from Iran, militant Palestinian groups and terrorist elements in Iraq. The last round of peace talks with Syria, led by then Prime Minister Ehud Barak, failed in 2000. Silvan Shalom, a former Israeli foreign minister and current parliament member from the Likud party, said Israel would negotiate with Syria once it has severed its ties to Hezbollah and Hamas. ``If they change their policy, if they do something different, we will sit down with them,'' Shalom said in New York. Iran Talks Shalom called on the U.S. to reject the Baker report's call to open talks with Iran, which he called ``the most dangerous actor in the region.'' ``What is going wrong these days is Iran and Syria,'' Shalom said later in a Bloomberg television interview. ``They are strengthening Hezbollah, Hamas. They are in contact with al- Qaeda. It is not the right direction. The right direction should be to impose sanctions on those countries, to isolate them.'' Shalom earlier said he believed that U.S. steadfastness would keep European countries in line on urging United Nations sanctions against Iran and pressuring Russia and China to support the effort. If the U.S. changes its policy, then Russia and China will ``tell the Iranians `We are the reason for the Americans to change their policy, because we didn't join them, and they realize that no one can impose sanctions on you,''' Shalom said. Israeli intelligence believes Iran will reach the ``point of no return,'' by obtaining the knowledge and capability to develop and build a nuclear weapon, ``within months, maybe a year,'' Shalom said. Baker, 76, served as secretary of state under President George H. W. Bush and built an Arab coalition to oppose Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. He was a major force in getting the 1991 regional Israeli-Arab peace talks started at the Madrid conference that year. The abortive Madrid process was replaced by the 1993 Oslo accords, which were a blueprint for direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Hamas The possibility for renewed talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was stymied when the Islamic militant Hamas won a majority of parliament seats in January elections and took over the government in March. Olmert said he was willing to meet ``soon'' with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who, unlike Hamas, promotes negotiations with Israel. Hamas, which has sent its members on suicide bombing missions against Israel, is classified as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU. Abbas has been trying to assemble a coalition government with Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel or any prior peace agreements with it. He said on Nov. 30 that coalition talks have reached a dead end. A special subcommittee formed by the Palestine Liberation Organization recommended today that Abbas break up the Hamas-led government and call for early elections by March 2007, Israel radio's Arabic service said, citing unidentified officials close to the president. Chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters that Abbas had not yet decided on his next steps. Hamas did not immediately comment on the subcommittee's recommendation. The Palestinian economy has been crippled by international sanctions imposed after Hamas came into power. To contact the reporter on this story: Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Todd Zeranski in New York at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Last Updated: December 7, 2006 15:46 EST +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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