Middle East Progress interviewed Israeli President Shimon Peres on his latest trip to the United States to meet President Barack Obama and speak at the AIPAC conference. Peres expressed the need for hope in the peace process, a strategy mirroring, although likely unrelated, the Obama ’08 campaign. Notably, Peres stated:
“The Israeli public has already proved that it is willing to pay a painful price for peace when it is convinced that true peace is at stake and that Israeli security would not be harmed.”
“We cannot ignore the fact that the Palestinian side is both ideologically and geographically divided. The challenge in my view is to establish a reliable peace process that strengthens the inclination toward peace on the Palestinian side and plants a sense of security in the hearts of Israelis. There is need to create true hope: a political horizon and meaningful improvement in daily life that will encourage most Palestinians in abandoning the destructive alternative offered by Hamas.”
“The friendship between the United States and Israel is very deep and built on a strong common and principled foundation. Whoever tries to explain the unique relations between the two nations through cold calculation of interests is mistaken and misleading. Interests change yet the shared morals and spirit common to both nations is a permanent reality which has deep and unparalleled roots. We should also not get confused. There is major correlation between the principal objectives of Israel and the United States: reaching real peace between Israel and the Arab world, stabilizing the Middle East and restraining the extreme forces that thrive on violence, subversion and terrorism.”
