(Communicated by Deputy Foreign Minister's Bureau)
Daniel Ayalon, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave a lecture Sunday afternoon, 22 November, to Bar Ilan University students on Israeli foreign policy. Ayalon told the students, “Israel has made broad concessions for the sake of peace, including agreeing to a Palestinian state and evacuating Jewish communities. However, the Palestinians not only haven’t given up anything - on the contrary, they have become entrenched in the positions they held 16 years ago.”
“Abu Mazen’s statements don’t indicate a willingness to enter into genuine negotiations. I expect the Palestinians to make concessions on their part and not only to demand them from Israel.”
The deputy minister referred to the Goldstone report and said, “This report is mendacious and undermines the right to self-defense of democratic states. It has become a guide to the intelligent terrorist; Hamas can read it just as we can. The problem is that in the UN, quantity is considered quality, due to the automatic majority of the Arab bloc.”