2007年VOA标准英语-Israel's Prime Minister Cautions Against High E

By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
25 June 2007

Israel's prime minister says he hopes for progress, but he cautioned against any major breakthrough at a summit, later Monday, with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah. VOA's Jim Teeple has more from our Jerusalem Bureau.

Speaking just before he left for the Egyptian resort, Sharm al-Sheikh, Mr. Olmert said he hopes the meeting will revive the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Ehud Olmert makes his opening remarks to the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, 24 Jun 2007

"We will see two prominent national leaders, shaking hands; the head of the Palestinian Authority and the Prime Minister of Israel expressing a genuine desire to build up a process, focusing not on terror, not on hatred¹, not on rejection², not on fighting each, other but rather on making peace," he said.

At the same time, Mr. Olmert says he will tell Mr. Abbas Israel expects cooperation from the Palestinians on security and terrorism. The Israeli leader says achieving peace with the Palestinians will take time and that he does not expect a major breakthrough to emerge from the summit.

Sunday, Israel agreed to release frozen tax and customs money to the Palestinians it has held for about a year, following the Hamas victory in Palestinian legislative³ elections. Israel says it will release about $360 million out of about $600 million it is holding, once it can be guaranteed none of the money will reach Hamas.

Palestinian officials say they want to see a resumption of negotiations⁴ aimed at ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and progress towards the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Nabil Amir, a close aide to Mr. Abbas, told the Voice of Palestine radio station Palestinians want to see benchmarks towards progress emerge from the summit.

Amir says Israel needs to do more than just release Palestinian money it holds, saying Palestinians will seek support from President Mubarak and King Abdullah at the summit to pressure Israel to make concessions⁵.

American officials have urged Israel to take more steps to ease hardships on Palestinians in the West Bank, such as easing Palestinian access to territory in the Jordan Valley and dismantling⁶ some of the numerous roadblocks in the West Bank that cause daily hardship for Palestinians.

Israel's army has rejected softening⁷ the measures, saying removing roadblocks and easing travel restrictions⁸ for Palestinians will put Israelis at risk for suicide bombings.

Monday's summit takes place as the Palestinian territories are now effectively divided between the West Bank, governed by President Abbas and his Fatah movement and Gaza, ruled by Hamas.

Speaking late Sunday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh denounced the summit.

Haniyeh says the summit in Sharm al-Sheikh is nothing more than a mirage⁹ for Palestinians, saying past summits have never resulted in gains for the Palestinians.

Both Egypt and Jordan have offered their full support to Mr. Abbas, since he dismissed the Hamas-led Palestinian unity¹⁰ government, following the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip. International donors¹¹ have also said they will resume aid to the Palestinians, now that Mr. Abbas has formed a new emergency Palestinian government, free of Hamas participation¹².

1 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

2 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

6 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

7 softening   

变软，软化

参考例句：

• Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的，已经成了个软心肠的人了。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 mirage   

n.海市蜃楼，幻景

参考例句：

• Perhaps we are all just chasing a mirage.也许我们都只是在追逐一个幻想。
• Western liberalism was always a mirage.西方自由主义永远是一座海市蜃楼。

10 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

11 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。