ISRAEL TO ARAB LEAGUE: YOU HAVE WORK TO DO BEFORE PEACE TALKS

Israel: Release Kidnapped Soldiers, End Terror Attacks Before Peace Talks - Yitzhak Benhorin
Israel rejected Thursday an Arab League proposal to the UN Security Council to start peace negotiations with Arab countries based on returning to '67 borders and establishing a Palestinian state whose capital is in Jerusalem. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman said, "Any progress will start with the release of the kidnapped and the cessation of terror."

"No one wants peace more than us. We want to actualize the vision of two states according to the Road Map, but tragically we received terror. We are committed to talking with Palestinians interested in peace. However, we can't sweep the problems under the rug, and we must ensure that a Palestinian state won't be a terror base." (Ynet News)

Peres: No Olmert-Abbas Meeting Before Hamas Recognizes Israel - Aluf Benn and Avi Issacharoff

On Thursday, Vice Premier Shimon Peres, who met with PA Chairman Abbas on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, said Prime Minister Olmert would not meet with Abbas as long as Hamas refuses to recognize Israel and release an IDF soldier captured in Gaza. Peres said: "The meeting is waiting for Mr. Abbas achieving what he himself declared is a condition." The conditions were Palestinian government recognition of Israel and the peace agreements signed with Israel, as well as the release of an Israeli soldier captured in Gaza, he said.

Peres said Abbas was a "leader of peace" and a reliable man. But he added that Hamas "unfortunately is continuing to fire rockets throughout Israel which makes their participation in anything almost impossible." "Even this morning they fired them," he said. (Ha'aretz)