Peres at Kaduri school
Photo: Hagai Aharon
Peres: Netanyahu will repay Ahmadinejad
President tells northern students that 'peace with Arabs will not come from love, but rather calculation'
President Shimon Peres
told schoolchildren in the north that "the prime minister will be demonstratively absent from a meeting with one of the most evil and horrible people of modern history, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
who lies through his teeth about the existence of the Holocaust and curses Israel".
Referring to the Iranian president's speech at the upcoming UN General Assembly, Peres added that Ahmadinejad "is pessimistic and has no future, and I'm sure Prime Minister Netanyahu will repay him."
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During his visit to the agricultural school 'Kaduri', Peres also spoke about the trilateral summit called by US President Barack Obama, who plans to meet with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the UN event.
He commended the initiative and said, "Each side lowers its expectations but no one can lower our expectations for peace – they will always remain high and I am sure the prime minister will carry them higher. President Obama has promised to contribute to peace, and I hope Abu-Mazen (Abbas) will go back to talks and progress towards peace."
Peres appeared to feel at home among the 1,660 Kaduri alumni, including the sister of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Rachel. He addressed them and said, "We must not launch negotiations by saying east Jerusalem is a settlement. This has not and will not happen."
Referring to Arabs living in the West Bank, Gaza, and the entire region he added, "I know they are not romantic. They don't love us, and that's an understatement. But peace will not come from love, it will come from calculation. Peace that doesn't come from love also has a chance, and we will fight for such peace."
