(Communicated by the President's Spokesperson)
President Shimon Peres this morning (Tuesday), 13 September 2009, opened the Fourth Galilee conference at Kfar Blum and referred to yesterday's explosion in southern Lebanon. He said that Hizbullah has turned Lebanon into a powder keg that will in the end hurt Lebanon itself: "It is Hizbullah which is endangering Lebanon, not Israel, just as it is Hamas which is endangering the Palestinian people."
The President added that there is no reason for there not to be peace between Israel and Lebanon: "We have evacuated all of the territory and are now extending a sincere hand to the Lebanese people. Lebanon could have long since become the Switzerland of the Middle East. It is Hizbullah and Hamas that are preventing this economic flowering and the peace and security of the region."