[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Yes, Ehud Olmert is a very busy man.

But that's not why he apparently doesn't prepare sufficiently before he is
interviewed.

He doesn't prepare for this or any of the other interviews because he
doesn't think he has to.

And so, instead of taking the opportunity to explain to an audience what
Israel's positions are and why they are justified Mr. Olmert mumbles along.

Instead of a one sentence sound byte about right of return we have a
paragraph.

Instead of explaining that the demand for 100% withdrawal might be a
"haggling position" but not as a prerequisite Olmert terms it a "natural
expectation".

And instead of saying something so people understand Israel's situation
today vis-a-vis the PA we have this rambling paragraph: "It is true that he
doesn't have enough power. He has difficulties and unfortunately he's
certainly much weaker than the brutality of Hamas. Now the question I ask is
this; what shall I do? Shall I say now that he's not strong enough (so) I
will ignore all the Palestinians and fight all of them and just don't create
any environment through which we can perhaps negotiate with at least someone
who is recognised to be of some position or should I do precisely this: I
will fight the terrorists and I will encourage those as well who are opposed
to terrorism, and Abu Mazen is opposed to terrorism. So he's not perfect but
he's much better than the rest. "]
===================

Interview with Ehud Olmert
Broadcast: 17/04/2007 Australian Broadcasting
www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2007/s1899720.htm
Reporter: David Hardaker
Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel
Transcript

HARDAKER: Ehud Olmert, welcome to Foreign Correspondent.

OLMERT: I'm delighted to be here.

HARDAKER: First up, the King of Saudi Arabia has endorsed a Middle East
peace plan. What's your view of it?

OLMERT: Well this is an idea, an approach, an attitude which I welcome very
much. The essence of what King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said is that the
conflict between Israel and the Arab countries, particularly the
Palestinians must be resolved in a peaceful manner. At the end of the
process not just the Palestinians, but all the Arab countries will have to
recognise the state of Israel. He (King Abdullah) has some territorial
expectations from us, which are quite natural, I'd say.

HARDAKER: What are you prepared to offer?

OLMERT: You want me to negotiate through you? That's... lets postpone it for
a while.

HARDAKER: On the basics of what we know, it comes to land?

OLMERT: Yes, true, but I don't have to draw the specific line now on
television before we actually sit with them. What I say is that I like their
approach. I'm favourable to their general attitude and I'm ready to accept
the Saudi initiative as a basis for discussions with the Palestinians,
together with the Saudis.

HARDAKER: Do you see it as a genuine hand in peace or is it kind of more of
the game in a sense.?

OLMERT: Look this is certainly a change which is encouraging. When you think
about it. When you think that these are the Saudis who years ago were the
main instigators of the Arab boycott against the state of Israel, would
never ever utter the name of Israel in public, would not stay in the room
when Israel was present there. I think there is a change. Now we have to
encourage that change and we have to try to play along those lines in a
genuine manner with the Arab countries and with the Saudis in order to
strengthen the moderate forces amongst them.

HARDAKER: Well, one of your first reactions to the Saudi plan was to raise
the question of the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel soil. You were
very, very strong about it. Why so? Why do you say you won't have one
refugee?

OLMERT: Of course, this is a sensitive issue. We think, we believe, we never
said differently that the refugee problem must be resolved. And it must be
resolved with a complete awareness to the suffering that the Palestinians
went through over generations. We are not playing games here. This is
serious. This is the life of my country and I have to be very careful.

HARDAKER: But you already have put on the record that you won't have one
Palestinian refugee return to Israel and you've called that a question of
the highest moral order? And I wonder why you do that?

OLMERT: The question here is whether the two sides accept the concept of a
two state solution. If we accept the concept of a two state solution then it
means there is a Palestinian state, but that there has to be a Jewish state
whose existence is not in jeopardy. And whose existence will be in jeopardy
as a Jewish state, if on top of all the Israelis that we have now and the
non-Jews, the Palestinians, who already live in the state of Israel, we'll
be forced to accept other Palestinians. So that's the logic of the moral
issue here, why of course if they are genuine when they talk about a two
state solution they don't mean one Palestinian state and the next will
become a Palestinian state. That is not a two state solution.

HARDAKER: Let's move on to the Palestinian side. You're prepared to
negotiate with Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen, Yet you must know that he has
little or no power on the street.?

OLMERT: Look, It is true that he doesn't have enough power. He has
difficulties and unfortunately he's certainly much weaker than the brutality
of Hamas. Now the question I ask is this; what shall I do? Shall I say now
that he's not strong enough (so) I will ignore all the Palestinians and
fight all of them and just don't create any environment through which we can
perhaps negotiate with at least someone who is recognised to be of some
position or should I do precisely this: I will fight the terrorists and I
will encourage those as well who are opposed to terrorism, and Abu Mazen is
opposed to terrorism. So he's not perfect but he's much better than the
rest.

HARDAKER: Iraq? What impact do you think that had on US standing in the
region?

OLMERT: Well definitely one thing must be clear. We don't want to go into
historical questions whether originally America should have entered into
Iraq or not because this issue ahs been resolved. They are there. You are
there, others are there. The question is how should America pull out and the
other forces should pull out from Iraq? I think they should pull out in the
manner which will maintain the prestige and the perception of America as a
major power. Why? Because the perception will be different, then the
possible consequences and ramifications will be very unpleasant to the
moderate forces in our part of the world and that is something we are
worried about .

HARDAKER: So you wouldn't want US troops and perhaps even Australian troops
to actually withdraw from Iraq?

OLMERT: I don't say that. This is your conclusion.

HARDAKER: Well what do you say?

OLMERT: What I say is that it's your decision to make. It's the American
decision to make. What I just tell you as someone who lives in this part of
the world for so many years and who may know something about the dynamics of
this part of the world is that knowing what you have invested for many
years, how much it's cost you, just think of what will be the possible
ramifications of a premature pullout on the standing of the forces which are
essential for our interest and your interest and your security in this part
of the world.

HARDAKER: One consequence of the Iraq war has been the empowerment of Iran.
Are you more or less concerned now about Iran than you were before, say,
sanctions were applied?

OLMERT: I'm certainly concerned about Iran because Iran tries to become
nuclear and to build a nuclear capacity and have non-conventional weapons
and to have a delivery system with ballistic missiles that can reach Israel
and they say they want to reach Israel and get rid of Israel. I think that
at this time today, Iran is not as close to the technological threshold as
they claim to be, but unfortunately they are not as far away as I'd love
them to be. So, still there is time to stop them and the question is how?

HARDAKER: Would you launch a pre-emptive strike?

OLMERT: You offer pre-emptive action, military action I guess and I think
that there is enough power in the international community to prevent Iran
from actually possessing nuclear weapons by using other measures - economic
sanctions, political sanctions. There is a lot that can influence the lives
and quality of life of a nation like Iran.

HARDAKER: Prime Minister Olmert, thank you very much for talking to us.

OLMERT: Thank you.