LONDON (EJP)---Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that he is confident that the Palestinian leadership will accept to resume the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
"We have been waiting patiently, but urgently, at the negotiating table since the inception of this government over ten months ago for the Palestinians to join us," Ayalon told the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a prestigious think-tank in London.
A pro-Palestinian protest was held outside the building during his speech.
"We are confident that the Palestinian leadership will accept the Mitchell guidelines which call for a resumption of peace talks, even if it will be proximity talks. Proximity talks are not our first choice, but they are better than no talks."
The minister also told the audience of high-level diplomats, media and academia that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the central conflict in the Middle East. "Today, the Israeli-Palestinian is only one piece of an unsolved puzzle in the Middle East which also has to deal with the Iranian threat, the situations in Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan-Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen, and the list goes on," Ayalon said.
"It is even more fundamental that we address the water shortage and other basic needs."
| |
One day after shaking hands with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Saudi Arabia's Prince Turki Al Faisal released a statement denying the gesture signals any change in official policy towards Israel. "My strong objections and condemnations of Israel's policies and actions against the Palestinians remain unchanged," the former Saudi intelligence chief said in a statement released Sunday.
|
Ayalon cited a recent United Nations development report which stated that 40% of the Arab world lives below the poverty line. "For the Arab world to maintain its current position, which is at the lowest rung on the ladder, then it will need to create 51 million jobs in the next ten years," Ayalon continued. "Resources in our region need to be divided in an equitable manner and we hope to integrate into a regional system that can be for the betterment of all".
Ayalon accused Iran as being at the source of all the problems in the region. "If the Iranian issue is solved, the region will only be the better for it," Ayalon said. "Iran uses its nuclear ambitions as the means to create a regional hegemony."
"The international community should not neglect the Iranian people and call to task the Iranian regime, not just on the nuclear issue, but also on their appalling human rights record,” he added.
Referring to Syria as a gateway for Iran into the region, Ayalon spoke about “confusing and contradictory statements emanating from Damascus.”
However, he said, at the end of the day we will judge Syria "by its actions and not its words."
"The latest heightened rhetoric with Syria is because of Iran. Only Iran benefits from heightened tension in the region to deter attention from its nuclear weapons program. It is clear that when the Iranian issue is resolved, Syria will become more amenable."
Ayalon was invited in London by the British Foreign Office which promised that he would not be arrested for alleged war crimes during the visit, according to Ynet.
During the visit, he was expected to discuss this problem with senior British officials who have expressed their desire to change arrest procedures following the warrant issued against opposition leader Tzipi Livni in December.
Britain’s Attorney General, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, is considering an amendment to British law that would give her office the power to review arrest warrants in private prosecutions against political figures.