(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Bureau)
Following quotes attributed to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, during her visit to Damascus, the Prime Minister’s Bureau wishes to clarify the following:
During Mrs. Pelosi’s meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, before her visit to Syria, the Prime Minister said that a number of Senate and House members who recently visited Damascus received the impression that despite the declarations of Bashar Assad, there is no change in the position of his country regarding a possible peace process with Israel.
The Prime Minister emphasized that although Israel is interested in peace with Syria, that country continues to be part of the axis of evil and a force that encourages terror in the entire Middle East.
In order to conduct serious and genuine peace negotiations, Syria must cease its support of terror, cease its sponsoring of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations, refrain from providing weapons to Hizbוullah and bringing about the destabilizing of Lebanon, cease its support of terror in Iraq, and relinquish the strategic ties it is building with the extremist regime in Iran.
The Prime Minister clarified that by these measures it would be determined whether Syria is sincere about attaining a genuine peace with Israel.
What was communicated to the U.S. House Speaker does not contain any change in the policies of Israel, as was communicated to other foreign leaders.