Netanyahu to Abbas: The time has come for peace

[bemildred]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called on Palestinian President to renew peace negotiations with Israel and bring an end to the years of conflict.

In his address to the gala opening of the Presidential Conference, Netanyahu urged the Palestinian leader to tell his people: "The time has come to end this conflict; tell them that the time has come for two nations to live side-by-side in peace and security."

"I believe that peace with the Palestinians is possible, but that requires brave leadership on both sides," he said. "I ask of you," Netanyahu added, directing his remarks at the Palestinian leader, "something I have not even asked of myself. We must discuss peace as soon as possible, and I am ready to do so. But these cannot be closed talks. We must say these things to the world, to our people and to the Palestinian people."

President Shimon Peres opened the second Israeli Presidential Conference on Tuesday with a gala event in Jerusalem, featuring addresses by Israeli and foreign statesmen as well as performances by local musicians.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1122379.html

[county worker]

1. Is hell freezing over?

[bemildred]

2. Probably just political posturing. Consider this sentence from the OP:

"I ask of you," Netanyahu added, directing his remarks at the Palestinian leader, "something I have not even asked of myself."

Does that sound coherent to you?

[oberliner]

3. Bad translation I think

Where's the original?

[bemildred]

5. Yeah, Harretz would screw that up.

Not being native speakers of Hebrew.

[oberliner]

6. The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting website managed to screw up "wiped off the map"

And they are native Persian speakers.

[bemildred]

7. I look forward to your well-sourced criticism of Haaretz' translation of what Bibi said.

Otherwise, annoy someone else.

[oberliner]

8. Maybe it just sounded better in Hebrew

I agree with you that the meaning is not entirely clear in the English - I didn't mean to annoy (well, maybe just a little). I do think it's possible that something got lost in translation though.

[bemildred]

9. I think it is entirely possible that Bibi is incoherent in Hebrew.

I even think that that is the way to bet, actually. I'm not saying he was not Obama-like in this instance, I just see no reason to think that it is ridiculous out of hand that he spouts babble. But I live in the USA and I am entirely used to gibbersish being treated as serious political dialog.

[Sinti]

4. Please, let it be so - both sides need to give up the vengeance

and look to the future. It could happen. O8)

[Ken Burch]

10. Prove it, Bibi....get ALL the settlements out of the West Bank.

There can ONLY be peace if there can be a REAL Palestinian state. And that REQUIRES all the West Bank. Nothing short of that can be viable.

The settlements have never had any positive effect, they've divided Israelis as well as Palestinians and they create antagonisms that cannot possibly be worth any trivial benefits to "security" that they might in theory provide.

The West Bank isn't Israel and it isn't worth the lives of any Israelis.

[TomClash]

11. "We must say these things to the world . . . "

Bibi say: "First, I will take more land."

What a joke.