Israeli defense minister says occupation must end

[April 20, 2010]  JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel must recognize that the world will not put up with decades more of Israeli rule over the Palestinian people, the country's defense minister said in unusually frank remarks Monday.

Ehud Barak's comments came against the backdrop of severe friction between the U.S. and Israel's hawkish government over an impasse in peacemaking.

Last week, President Barack Obama issued a surprisingly pessimistic assessment of peacemaking prospects, saying the U.S. couldn't force its will on Israelis and Palestinians if they weren't interested in making the compromises necessary to end their decades-old conflict.

Barak spoke to Israel Radio on the occasion of Israel's Memorial Day, dedicated to the nearly 23,000 fallen soldiers and civilian victims of terror attacks. The day is observed with a two-minute nationwide siren when people stand at attention, traffic is halted and everyday activities come briefly to a standstill.

At midnight Monday, the somber Memorial Day runs into Israel's 62nd Independence Day celebrations.

Both dates are traditionally a time for introspection. This year, Israelis are dwelling on issues such as the country's growing isolation over its policies toward the Palestinians, the growing rift with the U.S. and the failure to relaunch peace talks.

Barak told Israel Radio that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has "done things that didn't come naturally to it," such as adopting the vision of two states for two peoples and curtailing settlement construction.

"But we also shouldn't delude ourselves," he added. "The growing alienation between us and the United States is not good for the state of Israel."

The way to narrow that gap is to embark on an Israeli diplomatic initiative "that doesn't shy from dealing with all the core issues" dividing Israelis and Palestinians, he said. Chief among these are the status of contested Jerusalem, final borders and a solution for Palestinian refugees from the war around Israel's 1948 independence.

Barak dismissed talk of an imposed U.S. solution -- an idea fielded recently in Washington. But he warned that while Israel is militarily strong, it needs international legitimacy as well.

"The world isn't willing to accept -- and we won't change that in 2010 -- the expectation that Israel will rule another people for decades more," he said. "It's something that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."

Palestinians aspire to a state of their own, he said, and "there is no other way, whether you like it or not, than to let them rule themselves."

Barak heads the Labor Party, the most moderate member of Netanyahu's government.

But as defense minister in the country's past two governments, Barak has not even taken down the two dozen settlement satellites that Israel promised the U.S. to dismantle in 2003. Dovish critics have accused him of making Labor a fig leaf for the Netanyahu government's hawkish policies.

It wasn't clear whether Barak's statements reflected government policy, his own personal opinion or a desire to reach out to Labor voters. Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment.

Later Monday, Netanyahu told the audience at the national cemetery that Israel is eager for peace, but is ready to confront its enemies.

"We extend one hand in peace to all our neighbors who wish for peace," Netanyahu said. "Our other hand grasps the sword of David in order to defend our people against those who seek to kill us."

The Obama administration has been pushing to renew Israeli-Palestinian peace talks but despite shuttle diplomacy and unusual pressure on ally Israel, it hasn't even been able to launch the indirect talks it had hoped would start last month.

Netanyahu's government derailed the talks and precipitated the worst crisis in Israeli-U.S. relations in years by announcing plans for new Jewish housing in east Jerusalem.

Palestinians claim that sector of the city as the capital of a future state, and have refused to sit down for talks until Israel agrees to freeze all construction there -- something it has refused to do.

Netanyahu has yet to provide promised proposals to the U.S. for getting the talks back on track. In the meantime, he has defended his government's plans for new housing in the disputed holy city, calling them part of a long-standing Israeli policy.

[Associated Press; By AMY TEIBEL]

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