Bush reiterates commitment to Israel

Chicago Tribune

JERUSALEM — Lacking any short-range hope for peace in the Middle East, President Bush has cast his gaze forward a full 60 years with the promise of two states, Israeli and Palestinian, living side-by-side in peace.

Bush, addressing the Knesset on Thursday as part of a celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary, delivered a staunch commitment to the defense of Israel and a stern warning to those who might threaten Israel’s existence.

The president pointed specifically at Hamas, the militant organization controlling Gaza, and Hezbollah, the militia opposing the government of Lebanon, as terrorists with whom there can be no negotiation. And Bush vowed that Iran, supporting both Hamas and Hezbollah and deemed by Bush as the leading sponsor of terrorism in the region, will never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon.

“We believe that free people should strive and sacrifice for peace,” Bush said. “We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction.”

Yet as Bush paid tribute to Israel’s 60th anniversary, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip marked the anniversary of their displacement in the war that followed the birth of Israel, an event they call the nakba, or catastrophe. Bush mentioned the Palestinians in his speech in just one sentence and did not specifically refer to his stated goal of a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement by the end of his term in office. Instead, he spoke of the way this region may look in another 60 years.

“That future will be a dramatic departure from the Middle East of today,” Bush said. “Israel will be celebrating its 120th anniversary as one of the world’s great democracies, a secure and flourishing homeland for the Jewish people. The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved — a democratic state that is governed by law, respects human rights and rejects terror.

“This is a bold vision, and some will say it can never be achieved. But think about what we have witnessed in our own time.”

In Jerusalem, Bush has met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about talks under way and met privately Thursday with Tony Blair, the former British prime minister now representing the “Quartet” of nations and international organizations promoting a peace agreement. In Egypt this weekend, Bush plans to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is negotiating an agreement privately with Olmert.

“He’s going to talk to [Abbas] about his conversations with Prime Minister Olmert, where they see things going,” said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council, “and just to encourage ... both sides to keep on moving the process forward.”