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U.S. Democrats' Triumph Shakes Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made a one-day visit to Washington on Monday. The main topic in his talks with U.S. President George W. Bush was the U.S. position on Iran, which Israel sees as not harsh enough. Bush assured the Israeli that Washington would not enter into negotiations with Iran. The victory of the Democrats in congressional elections and the appointment of Robert Gates defense secretary have upset the Israeli government. Gates is known to be in favor of negotiating with Iran and Syria, having coauthored a report with former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski to that effect.
Before meeting with Olmert, the U.S. president met with two proponents of a new approach to relations with Iran. They were former secretary of state James Baker and former deputy chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States Lee Hamilton, who are heading a group that is also preparing a report on Iran for the president. Olmert, in the mean time, began his visit with a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and then met with Bush for 45 minutes. The two leaders looked relaxed and satisfied at the press conference after their talks.
The tone of the discussion of Iran was decisive. “It is very important for the world to unite with one common voice, to say to the Iranians that if you choose to continue forward, you'll be isolated, and one source of isolation would be economic isolation,” Bush said at the press conference. He said that Iran's refusal to stop its enrichment of uranium and to allow IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities prevent direct talks with the country.
Olmert told journalists in Hebrew that he had reached “absolute mutual understanding” with Bush and that it was “necessary to do everything possible to prevent Iran from reaching the technological level that would allow it to create nuclear weapons.”
The leaders also discussed Russia's actions. Olmert misspoke at the press conference and said, “I hope the day will come when changes in the Russian, excuse me, Syrian attitude to that serious problem will create the conditions for contact between us.” He was speaking about Syrian support for Hamas and its influence in Lebanon and Iraq. A Kommersant source said that Russia was mentioned not only in relation to its arms supplies to Damascus, but also for the amendments it made to the proposed UN Security Council resolution on Iran. Those amendments were rejected by the U.S. and EU.
Dmitry Sidorov
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 15, 2006
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