Future of Israel lies in Negev, Galilee, says Rice
On eve of visit to region, US Secretary of State pledges that there will be a Palestinian state in interview with Arabic-language television network
In an interview with the Alhurra television station, a US-funded Arabic-language satellite network, Rice also pledged that she and President George W Bush will "give every ounce of our energy to try and help to move forward on the two-state solution to establish the Palestinian state. I can't tell you that it will all be done when we are finished here, but I can tell you that there will be a Palestinian state."
Rice also told the Alhurra network that "the Palestinian people have waited too long for the state. The Israelis have waited too long for the security that will come from having a viable and democratic neighbor.
"I believe that the Palestinians, who are intelligent people, entrepreneurial people, people who have the same aspirations for democracy and prosperity, are going to insist that the conditions are there so that the state can come into being.
"And I believe that Israel understands too that it has obligations that need to be met and need to be met now, because the future of Israel is not under the continued occupation of the West Bank. The future of Israel is in building a strong Israeli state in places like the Negev and Galilee, as the President said in his speech."
The US secretary of state also said Washington would be "supportive" of negotiations between Israel and Syria, if the two countries were ready for such talks.
But she added that "Syria should, however, engage in policies that suggest that it is going to be a productive and constructive member of the international community, constructive in the region, not destabilizing in the way that it has been in Lebanon, in the Palestinian territories, and in Iraq, where foreign terrorists continue to enter across the Syrian border."
