ISRAEL: Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird calls Israel and the Palestinians to return to negotiations without preconditions, vows to support Israel who is threatened by 'Arab spring' outcome

Record ID: 397344

  • Title: ISRAEL: Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird calls Israel and the Palestinians to return to negotiations without preconditions, vows to support Israel who is threatened by 'Arab spring' outcome
  • Date: 31st January 2012
  • Summary: HERZLIYA, ISRAEL (JANUARY 30, 2012) (REUTERS) CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTER JOHN BAIRD ADDRESSING THE HERZLIYA SECURITY CONFERENCE AUDIENCE LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, JOHN BAIRD, SAYING: "The massive wave of change that has swept across Libya and indeed throughout the Arab world in the past 12 months has been truly remarkable. It is not done
  • Embargoed: 15th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel, Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6GZNZ8IQLLPJCIEQ5IKDFCWOI
  • Story Text: Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird vowed on Monday (January 30) his country will support Israel in face of challenges deriving from the choices made by "newly freed" Arab states.
    Baird, on a three-day visit to the region, addressed the annual Herzliya Conference, which draws together international and Israeli experts from the highest levels of government, business and academia to address the most pressing national, regional and global issues.
    "The massive wave of change that has swept across Libya and indeed throughout the Arab world in the past 12 months has been truly remarkable. It is not done yet. Witness the courageous struggle of the Syrian people at such great cost to themselves against the appalling violence of the Assad regime. Nor is the precise outcome of any of these transition by any means certain. What is emerging though presents both a challenge and an opportunity. It is, as our Prime Minister Stephen Harper calls it, 'the paradox of freedom'. That awesome power, that grave responsibility to choose between good end evil. Israel, of course, is no stranger to this. And perhaps no other nation has more at stake in the choices the newly free will make in the coming months, in the coming years. I can assure you this: Canada will stand with you, in the face of this challenge," Baird said in his speech in central Israel.
    Earlier on Monday, the Canadian minister travelled to the West Bank city of Ramallah and met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian officials. In a meeting with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki, Baird expressed his government's disapproval of unilateral Palestinian steps, saying he and his counterpart had "respectful disagreements".
    In Herzliya, Baird encouraged Israelis and Palestinians to return to negotiations without setting preconditions. "The unifying factor in the uprisings that have crested across the Arab world is a popular desire about the lack of jobs, about the lack of hope, about the lack of opportunity. Such sentiments are natural, yet such uprisings are, by their very nature, unpredictable and tough to control once unleashed. By returning to negotiations for a lasting peace, by resisting temptations to apply preconditions to talks, by avoiding measures that seek to prejudge the outcome of the talks the Palestinian leadership could immediately take steps towards a more measured, stable, transition to statehood," Baird added.
    Also on Monday, Baird met Israeli President Shimon Peres and toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
    During his three day visit to the region, Baird will meet his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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