Israel's Home Front Affairs Minister Avi Dichter gave diamantaires from across the world, as well as from the Israel Diamond Exchange, attending the first day of the US/International Diamond Week a comprehensive review of Israel's security situation.
Dichter, the former head of Israel's domestic security service, spoke about the challenges Israel faces from the Arab world and the difficulties in trying to reach a true and meaningful peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Dichter explained that for Israel, it is no longer a case of seeing the Middle East only in terms of its immediate neighbors as it has done for so many years. "The new Middle East extends from Morocco to Afghanistan and from Turkey to the Yemen," Dichter explained. "It is not just a case of looking at what is happening in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Avi Dichter and Yair Sahar. Photo: Ya'ankale.
Yesterday at the Economic-Social Club of the Exchange. Photo: Ya'ankale.
"For so long, the world has spoken about two states for two peoples, but with what we are seeing in the Gaza Strip with the Hamas, it is now a case of three countries for two peoples. Israel is an island of stability in an extremely unstable region. We are being asked to make peace with other states when we don't know what the future will bring for those countries due to the instability in the region. This is not the start of the end as far as the Arab Spring is concerned, but hardly the end of the start."
Dichter said that the idea that the Israeli-Palestinian issue was at the heart of the region's problems was no longer true. Peace talks with the Palestinians started 20 years ago and it had proven extremely difficult to build up a relationship of trust. "Israel needs to know exactly what it has to give and what it will receive in return.
He said that comments made by a range of leaders from the Muslim world, including the Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Egypt and Iran made it clear exactly what they thought of Israel and that is to exterminate the country.
However, he said that a true peace, even a cold one that exists with Egypt, is better than a "hot conflict".
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