Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday used a memorial ceremony for former Premier Yitzhak Rabin to reiterate that Israel must be willing to give up parts of Jerusalem in return for peace.
"If we are determined to maintain a Jewish and democratic Israel, we must concede parts of the homeland we have prayed for and dreamed of for generations, as well as Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and return to the State of Israel in 1967 with amendments," Olmert was quoted by local daily Yedioth Ahronoth as saying.
"The decision must be made now. The moment of truth is here. There is no escape. It can be missed. If, God forbid, we stall, we will lose the support for the two-state idea," the outgoing premier said at the state memorial ceremony on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl for Rabin assassinated by a Jewish radical averse to any territorial concessions to the Palestinians.
Olmert repeated that the moment of truth has arrived, warning that "It can be postponed for many years in which a lot of blood will be spilt.
"But we must face it with integrity, uprightly and responsibly. The bullets that killed Rabin cannot stop the historic path he led. Rabin will win even after his death," he claimed.
Israeli President Shimon Peres, who also attended the memorial ceremony, said even today, 13 years after the assassination, there are still people inciting against the state's leaders, noting that Israel must bring them to justice fearlessly.
He said that there is now, as there was then, a small minority that had "the audacity" to undermine the state's authority.
"They hurt Palestinians, just because they are Palestinians, and challenge the law enforcers, police and soldiers, who are protecting the country, and also protecting them," he said.
"This violent and dangerous minority must be condemned and isolated, and we must not remain silent in the face of their words of incitement and blasphemy. We must not ignore acts of vandalism and damage, as they were a state within a state," said the president.
On Saturday night, tens of thousands of people gathered at Tel Aviv's Yitzhak Rabin Square for the main memorial service marking the 13th assassination anniversary of Rabin.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 before being shot dead in 1995 by the right-wing radical who opposed to his signing of the Oslo Accords which recognize Palestinians' right to their own statehood in exchange for acceptance of Israel's existence.
(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2008)
