President Peres: “It is time to return to the peace process. The Prime
Minister repeated his commitment to the two state solution. There is no
other solution if you want peace but to enable the Palestinians to have a
demilitarized state of their own.”

(Communicated by the Office of the President)

President Shimon Peres, this morning (Sunday, 17 February 2013), in his
residence, held a working meeting with a bipartisan delegation of US
Senators and Congressmen led by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), who serves as
co-chair of the Helsinki Commission. President Peres addressed the upcoming
visit by President Obama to Israel and said, "We're very excited to see the
President of the United States coming to visit the State of Israel. On the
major issue of Israel's security President Obama has shown both deep
understanding and forthcoming support. We're excited to see him here and to
continue the unique relationship between the United States and Israel."
President Peres addressed the changes in the region and said that Israel and
the United States share the same purpose, "to maintain freedom, liberty and
human rights. Around us today there is a great deal of confusion, I wouldn't
even say that we know who our enemies are because we don't know wh! o runs
the countries. All of us are terribly disturbed by the tragedy in Syria; we
cannot stand to see children killed by their president."

President Peres focused on the issue of human rights and Iran with respect
to the Helsinki Commission of which many of the delegation are members and
said, "A
nuclear Iran is a threat to the entire world, I trust President Obama when
he says that all options are on the table to stop Iran from acquiring a
nuclear weapon. With that, I think Helsinki was a watershed in history,
President Carter insisted on human rights. It was the first time the Soviet
Union was forced to deal with human rights, it my eyes it was a great moral
and political victory for the United States of America. In my opinion this
is relevant still today about Iran. We talk so much about the Iranian bomb
but we must not forget that Iran is the greatest danger to human rights in
Iran and outside of it. They exports weapons, terrorists and money to
whoever is ready to kill. They hang people for being homosexual, they hang
people without trial, they imprison them and they shoot at demonstrators.
The point of Helsinki, of human rights, should not be secondary to the other
issues we are facing with the Iranians."

Senator Cardin, who is leading the delegation, thanked President Peres for
his warm welcome and said that the United States will continue to be a
guarantor of Israel's security and that in light of the elections in Israel
and President Obama's visit there is window of opportunity between Israel
and the Palestinians that could lead to a significant breakthrough. He
added, "We believe that security is based not just on physical security but
also on economic security and the human rights issues. Our visit underscores
just how important the relationship is, not just to Israel but also to the
US. We came here to underscore that relationship."

President Peres addressed the elections in Israel and said, "It is time to
return to the peace process. The Prime Minister repeated his commitment to
the two state solution. There is no other solution if you want peace but to
enable the Palestinians to have a demilitarized state of their own. The only
alternative to the two state solution is a bi-national country, which means
an ongoing quarrel, ongoing hatred and an ongoing conflict, which is bad for
them and for us, for their children and for our children. We are building a
government not only to govern but also to have the right vision."