[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

What image comes to your mind when you read this?

Responding to an assertion by a committee member that the danger of rocket
attacks would increase should Israel withdraw from more territory, the
premier said that such an argument should not be a basis for rejecting a
deal.

I envision a spoiled brat banging on a table shouting "don't confuse me with
logic".]

PM says Israel sorry for 1948 refugees
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 15, 2008
www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1221467180389&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Israel is prepared to express sorrow for the plight of Palestinians who
became refugees when the country was created, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
said Monday.

"We will participate in expressing sorrow for what happened to them," Olmert
told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, adding, "but also
for what happened to us, the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Jews who
were driven out of Arab countries."

Olmert's remarks were relayed by a meeting participant who spoke on
condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

The prime minister also warned that Israel could miss the opportunity to
forge a peace deal with the Palestinians.

"Every day that passes without coming to an agreement with the Palestinians
is one more day that, in the future, we'll be sorry for, and I say this as a
man who once thought differently and fought [for different opinions]," he
said.

"There is no magic charm which will produce an agreement - the price is very
heavy," Olmert continued. "My feeling is that a territorial price will bring
us closer."

"We need to emphasize this with honesty and courage. I think that the price
is less than what would need to be paid if we didn't have an agreement,"
Olmert said.

Responding to an assertion by a committee member that the danger of rocket
attacks would increase should Israel withdraw from more territory, the
premier said that such an argument should not be a basis for rejecting a
deal.

"To those who speak of the threat of missiles, I say: Even today, the State
of Israel, from end to end, is in the range of missiles from terror
organizations, and, therefore, conceding a meter more or less is not
significant," he said.

"If we don't come to an agreement quickly, we'll miss the chance, and such a
missed opportunity will be unacceptable," Olmert went on.

The premier also commented on remarks he made during the weekly cabinet
meeting a day earlier, in which he said that the "vision of a greater Israel
no longer exists."

"Every meter from the Jordan River and west is part of the historic land of
Israel, and there was never any other dominant culture there," the prime
minister said.

"Every time there is an archaeological dig in that land, artifacts from
Jewish History are discovered. But currently, people who belong to another
nation live there," Olmert added. "There is great fear over [the creation
of] a bi-national state, within which we will be the minority.
Unfortunately, I see a growing effort within the international community to
push the idea of one state for two nations."