Israel ready to kill anyone ‘implicated in terrorism’: PM
LONDON, June 12: Israel could kill anyone ‘implicated in terrorism’, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday in response to a question on whether the Jewish state was ready to terminate Hamas ministers.
Speaking to journalists in London accompanying him on his first European visit since taking office, Mr Olmert said: “Whoever is implicated in terrorism cannot claim to have immunity.”
He added: “I do not think it would be wise of me to be more specific.”
Later, British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned of a ‘different reality’ in the Middle East unless Israel and the Palestinians were able to negotiate an agreement on territory.
Mr Blair, who held talks in London with Ehud Olmert, said everyone favoured a negotiated settlement.
But such discussions would only take place if the Palestinians recognised the Jewish state’s right to exist, ‘renounce violence’ and agreed to follow the international roadmap for peace, he said.
Mr Olmert is hoping to sell a plan of fixing Israel’s borders with or without agreement of the Palestinians while on a trip to London and Paris.
He will have taken heart that Mr Blair did not outwardly reject the proposal, which has received a cool reception from some leaders in the Middle East.
“I don’t want to go down any other path than a negotiated settlement but the reality is that this thing has got to be moved forward by negotiation or we are in a stalemate that Israel is necessarily and realistically going to want to unlock,” the British leader said.
“We the international community have got a choice. We either put our best effort into making sure that negotiated settlement becomes a reality or we are going to face a different reality,” he said.
The Israeli premier also confirmed that he would be meeting Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in ‘a few weeks’.
“We prefer to have a negotiated deal. We will do everything possible in order to achieve that,” Mr Olmert said.
He emphasised the importance, however, that the Palestinians met the three basic principles for negotiations to occur.
At the same time, Mr Olmert warned: “One thing will not happen: a stalemate.
“Either we move in this direction and we make every possible effort or there will be another reality in the words of Prime Minister Blair and this reality is moving forward in order to change the present status quo in the Middle East.”
He said his main goals were to separate Israel from the Palestinians, have a secure border, enjoy safety and security for all and enable the Palestinians to realise their dream of a Palestinian state.
Mr Olmert’s plan would see Israel uproot 70,000 settlers from the West Bank while cementing its hold on housing blocs where most of the quarter of a million settlers live.
The Israeli premier received a cool reception for his plan in talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah in the past week, with both men urging him not to make any unilateral moves.
US President George Bush has called the plan ‘bold’, but has also told Mr Olmert that he must first exhaust all efforts to reach an agreement with Mr Abbas.
