Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel will have to give up virtually all of the land it captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War if it wants peace with the Palestinians. Mr. Olmert, now serving as interim prime minister, made his remarks in a farewell interview with Israel newspaper Yediot Aharonot published Monday.
即将离任的以色列总理奥尔默特说，如果希望与巴勒斯坦人达成和平，以色列不得不放弃在1967年阿拉伯和以色列战争中获得的几乎全部土地。以色列临时政府总理奥尔默特是在接受星期一出版的以色列报纸《新消息报》进行的告别采访时说这番话的。
Ehud Olmert's remarks come after he resigned on September 21 in the face of corruption allegations. He is serving as a caretaker and remains involved in U.S.-brokered negotiations launched almost a year ago.
奥尔默特是9月21日在面对腐败的指控辞职之后发表这番谈话的。他目前担任过渡政府的总理，他也仍然参与在美国斡旋下大约一年前开始进行的谈判。
In the interview published on the eve of the Jewish New Year celebrations on Monday, Mr. Olmert said he was stating what no previous Israeli leader has ever said, which is that Israel should withdraw from almost all of the territories, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Without this, he said, there will be no peace.
这篇专访发表在犹太新年的前夕。奥尔默特说，他说出了以前以色列领导人从来没有说过的话，那就是以色列应该撤出几乎所有的领土，包括东耶路撒冷和戈兰高地。没有这一点，他说，就不会有和平。
Mr. Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, tells VOA the outgoing prime minister has been saying these things privately in his meetings with the Palestinians and mediators over the last month.
奥尔默特的发言人马克．雷格夫对美国之音说，这位即将离任的总理在过去一个月来和巴勒斯坦人以及协调员私下举行会见的时候一直是这样说的。
"Maybe this is the first time he has said this publicly but I can assure you that his Palestinian negotiations partners have heard this before, as have the Americans and the Europeans," he said. "Ultimately, we want a historic reconciliation with the Palestinians. We understand that that will come at the price of difficult decisions on our side."
雷格夫说：“也许这是他第一次公开发表这个观点，但我可以向你们保证，和他谈判的巴勒斯坦代表听到过这样的话。美国人和欧洲人也听到过。归根结底，我们希望与巴勒斯坦人达成一个历史性的和解。我们知道，对我们来说，这意味著我们要付出代价，做出困难的决定。”
Regev said Israel expects the Palestinians to make equally difficult decisions.
雷格夫说，以色列希望巴勒斯坦人能够做出同样困难的决定。
"In the interview, Mr. Olmert says very clearly that this cannot be done by Israel alone, that the Palestinians also will have to make tough choices," he said. "If both sides continue these talks with seriousness and the willingness to make difficult decisions to make historical choices, an agreement is still possible."
雷格夫说：“在采访中，奥尔默特说得很清楚，只靠以色列是做不到的，巴勒斯坦人也得作出艰难的选择。如果双方继续进行认真的会谈，并愿意作出困难的决定对历史进行选择，达成协议仍然是可能的。”
The White House wants to see an agreement by the time U.S. President George Bush leaves office in January. Olmert's political troubles, elections in the United States, and deep divisions within the Palestinian Authority have raised doubts about whether any of the sides has a mandate to follow through with an agreement.
白宫希望在美国总统布什明年一月离任前达成协议。而奥尔默特的政治麻烦，美国的选举，以及巴勒斯坦民族权力机构内部的深刻分歧使人怀疑任何一方是否得到授权要坚持谈判，最后达成协议。
The talks have been stuck on key issues of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the status of Jerusalem, and the Palestinian families' claim of a right to return to lands seized by Israel following the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.
会谈一直在一些关键的问题上裹足不前，如在约旦河西岸和东耶路撒冷的犹太人定居点问题，耶路撒冷的地位问题，以及巴勒斯坦家庭是否有权回到以色列1948年建国后占据的土地等问题。 |