Israel welcomes US President George Bush on his first presidential visit, one that will have a bearing on several fundamental issues for Israel and the entire region. First and foremost, the president will engage in substantive discussions with Israel's leaders on the looming nuclear threat posed by Iran. Secondly, he will seek to advance the new momentum for peace between Israel and the Palestinians that was renewed recently at the Annapolis Conference.
The findings of the US National Intelligence Estimate that Iran had paused in its nuclear enrichment program several years ago have not reduced the Iranian threat today. Iran still poses a strategic threat, not only to Israel, but to all of Europe, with long-range ballistic missiles that have placed the entire continent within range. That is why Iran has twice been sanctioned unanimously by the UN Security Council. As the NIE report says clearly that Iran is continuing its enrichment program, the international community must not lower the intensity of its efforts to block that threat. Israel's leaders look forward to discussing with President Bush how best to deal with the Iranian nuclear menace.
Israel cannot afford to risk the safety of its population on an estimate that the Iranian nuclear threat has ceased - especially when the Iranians make a point of announcing almost weekly the development of a longer-range Shihab ballistic missile, capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. President Bush's visit is an opportunity for closer, effective coordination between the leader of the free world and the only democracy in the Middle East in facing the dangers posed by a nuclear Iran's extremist Islamic ideology.
President Bush is scheduled to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, in an effort to advance the momentum toward a peace agreement begun at Annapolis. The Bush administration has been involved for five years in promoting the concept of two states for two peoples under the Roadmap for peace - the international community’s consensus document on how to move forward. President Bush's understanding of Israel's security concerns was clearly evident in his letter to former prime minister Ariel Sharon on 14 April 2004. Bush stressed to Sharon that Israel has the right to defend itself, that any future borders have to take into account the settlement blocs, and that Palestinian refugees will find a solution in the framework of a future Palestinian state.
One of the first principles of the Roadmap is the obligation of the Palestinian leadership to stop terrorism and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure. President Bush has been a staunch ally of Israel's in the war against terrorism, knowing how to distinguish between legitimate nationalistic struggle and criminal warfare. Bush has told the world: If you’re involved in terrorism, if you’re involved in the deliberate slaughter of innocent civilians, there can be no justification. He has taken an uncompromising position against terrorist groups like Hizbullah, Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and others. Israel welcomes the opportunity for President Bush to reiterate the US position, just a month after the number of Kassam rockets and mortars fired at Israel by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza during 2007 hit the 2,000 mark - nearly double the number in 2006.
Terrorist attacks and casualties have increased steadily despite efforts to renew Israel-Palestinian peace talks, whose primary goal is solving the conflict by creating a sovereign Palestinian state. The current visit by President Bush is an opportunity to differentiate between moderates who have a positive approach to ending the conflict and those whose violence make peace impossible. Israel welcomes his efforts to strengthen the hands of those who want peace.