Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. understands Israel’s need to respond to rocket fire on its southern towns from the Gaza Strip and pledged to work with any new Israeli government.
“There is no doubt that any nation including Israel cannot stand idly by while its territory and people are subjected to rocket attacks,” Clinton said after meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem today during her first foray into Middle East diplomacy.
Clinton arrived late yesterday in Jerusalem, where Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to build a governing coalition after elections last month. She was scheduled to meet with him later today in between talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
“It is important that the U.S. underscore its unshakeable, durable and fundamental support for the state of Israel,” Clinton said. “Our relationship is more than just one of shared interests. It is one of shared values. President Obama and I look forward to working with Israel’s new government.”
Clinton, 61, aims to reassure Israeli leaders of the Obama administration’s commitment to their country’s security as the U.S. discusses ways to engage Israel’s foes in Iran and presses for renewed Middle East peace efforts. The Israelis and Palestinians would have to resolve contentious issues such as borders and control of Jerusalem, while each side tries to end internal political divisions.
Undercut Hamas
Clinton came to Jerusalem from Egypt, where the U.S. and international donors sought to bolster Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who controls the West Bank, and undercut the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. Israel fought Hamas two months ago in a 22-day military operation it said was intended to stop rocket attacks.
Israel should help its “responsible” Palestinian partners “strengthen their capacity to govern the Palestinian people and move toward a viable state,” Clinton said yesterday after the Palestinians secured more than $4.2 billion in pledges at a conference in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“Nobody in Israel wants to control the life of the Palestinians,” Peres said after meeting with Clinton. “You will find in us a real and sincere partner to prevent and stop terror and achieve peace for all of the people in the Middle East.”
After parting from Peres, Clinton went straight to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust remembrance complex. She was escorted by Yisrael Meir Lau, a former Israeli chief rabbi, to a ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance in which she rekindled the eternal flame for the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis and laid a wreath on a crypt of ashes of Holocaust victims.
Abbas Talks
She also walked through a museum at the complex dedicated to the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust and signed Yad Vashem’s guest book.
Clinton will travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah tomorrow for talks with Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. She praised both yesterday for winning the confidence of donor nations and international organizations in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Clinton ducked a question yesterday on whether she would call on Israeli leaders to stop allowing Jewish settlers to build in Palestinian territories. And she reiterated the U.S. goal of an independent Palestinian state while avoiding details on how to get there.
“We will be discussing specific policies with that new government once it is formed,” Clinton said yesterday.
To contact the reporters on this story: Viola Gienger in Jerusalem at vgienger@bloomberg.net ; Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net .
“There is no doubt that any nation including Israel cannot stand idly by while its territory and people are subjected to rocket attacks,” Clinton said after meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem today during her first foray into Middle East diplomacy.
Clinton arrived late yesterday in Jerusalem, where Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to build a governing coalition after elections last month. She was scheduled to meet with him later today in between talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
“It is important that the U.S. underscore its unshakeable, durable and fundamental support for the state of Israel,” Clinton said. “Our relationship is more than just one of shared interests. It is one of shared values. President Obama and I look forward to working with Israel’s new government.”
Clinton, 61, aims to reassure Israeli leaders of the Obama administration’s commitment to their country’s security as the U.S. discusses ways to engage Israel’s foes in Iran and presses for renewed Middle East peace efforts. The Israelis and Palestinians would have to resolve contentious issues such as borders and control of Jerusalem, while each side tries to end internal political divisions.
Undercut Hamas
Clinton came to Jerusalem from Egypt, where the U.S. and international donors sought to bolster Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who controls the West Bank, and undercut the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip. Israel fought Hamas two months ago in a 22-day military operation it said was intended to stop rocket attacks.
Israel should help its “responsible” Palestinian partners “strengthen their capacity to govern the Palestinian people and move toward a viable state,” Clinton said yesterday after the Palestinians secured more than $4.2 billion in pledges at a conference in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“Nobody in Israel wants to control the life of the Palestinians,” Peres said after meeting with Clinton. “You will find in us a real and sincere partner to prevent and stop terror and achieve peace for all of the people in the Middle East.”
After parting from Peres, Clinton went straight to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust remembrance complex. She was escorted by Yisrael Meir Lau, a former Israeli chief rabbi, to a ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance in which she rekindled the eternal flame for the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis and laid a wreath on a crypt of ashes of Holocaust victims.
Abbas Talks
She also walked through a museum at the complex dedicated to the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust and signed Yad Vashem’s guest book.
Clinton will travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah tomorrow for talks with Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. She praised both yesterday for winning the confidence of donor nations and international organizations in Sharm el-Sheikh.
Clinton ducked a question yesterday on whether she would call on Israeli leaders to stop allowing Jewish settlers to build in Palestinian territories. And she reiterated the U.S. goal of an independent Palestinian state while avoiding details on how to get there.
“We will be discussing specific policies with that new government once it is formed,” Clinton said yesterday.
To contact the reporters on this story: Viola Gienger in Jerusalem at vgienger@bloomberg.net ; Gwen Ackerman in Jerusalem at gackerman@bloomberg.net .
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