Posted By: Margaret Pozzini
By Jeffrey HellerSun Nov 12, 5:49 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
began a U.S. visit on Sunday, seeking from President George W.
Bush a post-election picture of U.S. policy toward Iran and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.if (window.yzq_a == null) document.write("");if (window.yzq_a)
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"It is the right time...to exchange views with the
president on what is expected in the coming two years (of his
term)," Olmert said before leaving Israel. He meets Bush on
Monday.
"The main subjects will be the situation in the Middle East
and the Iranian issue," Olmert told reporters, referring to
Tehran's nuclear programme which the United States says could
lead to the development of atomic weapons.
Israel, which is widely believed to be the only country in
the Middle East to have nuclear weapons, fears that a nuclear
Iran would pose a threat to its existence.
Iran, whose president has called for the Jewish state's
destruction, says it intends to use its uranium enrichment
programme for electricity generation.
Olmert told reporters traveling with him that Iran needed
to fear the consequences of not heeding international demands
over its nuclear programme.
"If someone wants to reach a compromise with Iran he must
understand that Iran won't be ready to do so unless it is
afraid," Olmert said.
"Israel has various options which I am not prepared to
discuss."
Last month Olmert said there would be a "price to pay" if
Iran rejected every compromise. He did not elaborate.
Iran said on Sunday its Revolutionary Guards would respond
swiftly if Israel attacked the Islamic Republic.
"If Israel takes such a stupid step and attacks, the answer
of Iran and its Revolutionary Guard will be rapid, firm and
destructive and it will be given in a few seconds," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a news
conference.
PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
A mid-term U.S. election last week showing deep popular
dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq has also raised
speculation in Israel that Bush could try to cap his two-term
presidency with progress on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
Olmert heaped praise on moderate Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas last week, calling him "upfront, decent and
against terror," in an apparent signal that he would be the
focus of any new U.S. or Israeli peace efforts.
"The Palestinian issue is on the agenda. There is no way we
can ignore it. We have to find the best partner," Olmert told
Newsweek magazine in an interview published over the weekend.
But any moves on the Palestinian front would likely require
a remake of the government headed by Hamas, an Islamist group
that has rejected demands by the United States and other peace
brokers to change dramatically its position toward Israel.
The group, which won Palestinian elections in January and
ousted Abbas's Fatah faction, advocates Israel's destruction.
Hamas and Abbas have been trying to form a unity government
of technocrats they hope can ease Western sanctions against the
Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. Abbas said on Saturday he
hoped the unity cabinet would be in place by the month's end.
Israeli media reports said Olmert and Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni had discussed ways for Israel to grab the
diplomatic initiative in the stalled peace process.
In the Newsweek interview, Olmert said the recent inclusion
of a far-right politician into his cabinet would not alter his
position toward the Palestinians.
"... You can read my lips. I'm ready for territorial
compromises, and I haven't changed my mind," Olmert said.
Olmert's U.S. trip takes place with tensions high in Israel
and the Palestinian territories after 19 civilians were killed
by Israeli artillery fire on a Gaza town on Wednesday.
Olmert has expressed sorrow over the deaths in what he
described as a technical error by artillery firing toward an
orange grove where militants had launched rockets at Israel.
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