Last update - 00:00 09/07/2007
Italian PM focuses on Iran during talks with Olmert
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent, News Agences and Haaretz Services
Efforts to thwart Iran's nuclear program took center stage in discussions held Monday between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and visiting Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
Prodi is on a three-day trip to Israel and the West Bank to discuss ways to promote Mideast peacemaking. He and Olmert also discussed Lebanon and internal Palestinian politics.
The Italian premier tried to convince Olmert and other senior political figures that a distinction should be made between the development of nuclear weapons in Iran, to which he expressed complete opposition, and a nuclear program for civilian purposes.
In closed-door talks, Prodi said that Iran had started to develop its nuclear programs in the 1970s, and that it would not be possible to reverse the knowledge or technology it had acquired. He also acknowledged that diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement with Iran were nearly exhausted.
But Olmert, speaking at a joint press conference with Prodi, said, "Israel's position is clear: we will never be able to resign ourselves to the possibility that a state threatening the destruction of Israel will have nuclear capabilities."
"Iran, through the voice of its president [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, calls almost daily for the destruction of the State of Israel. A country like this cannot, under any circumstances, possess unconventional capabilities, and everything must be done to prevent this," Olmert continued.
Prodi echoed Olmert, saying in the press conference that took place in the Prime Minister's Jerusalem residence, "Iran must not develop nuclear military capability. Because Iran is a regional power, it must act responsibly, and give up any nuclear military program."
Prodi also said that Iran's refusal to heed the demands of the UN Security Council to halt uranium enrichment brings it closer to harsher sanctions.
In a meeting with president-elect Shimon Peres, Prodi said, "I've only been in Israel for a day, and I already understand that the Iranian issue needs to be a top global priority."
Peres told him that Italy plays a crucial role in Europe and in cooperation with the United States to exert harsh economic sanctions on Iran.
"I believe that through economic means, it is possible to prevent the nuclearization of Iran," Peres said.
Prodi heard similar declarations from Defense Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu.
Answering questions from the press, Prodi said that as a major trade partner with Iran, Italy is paying a heavy economic price for sanctions, but that it is enforcing them strictly.
Moving onto another regional issue, Olmert thanked Prodi for contributing Italian soldiers to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which patrols the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Lebanon since the conclusion of last summer's Second Lebanon War.
Prodi told Olmert that he expects the force's mandate to be extended in the near future.
Prodi said he had no information regarding a report in the Italian newspaper "La Stampa," according to which Italian intelligence missed an opportunity to secure the release of Israel Defense Forces soldiers abducted by Hezbollah last year in a cross-border raid that sparked the war.
Regarding IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Palestinian militants a few weeks earlier on the Israel-Gaza border, Prodi said, "I call on Hamas to release Gilad Shalit without further delay. He has been in captivity for too long."
At the Jerusalem news conference, Prodi reaffirmed Italy's support for Abbas and the emergency government he set up in the West Bank following Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza a month ago. At the same time, he said, a humanitarian crisis in Gaza must be avoided at all costs.
Crossings into Gaza from Israel and Egypt were snapped shut after Hamas seized control of the coastal strip. Crossings with Israel have opened for humanitarian aid.
Olmert said that despite the events in Gaza, Israel and Italy continue to see the territory and the West Bank as parts of a single Palestinian entity.
"We both think that Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian Authority but it is clear that we cannot accept the violent aggression of the Hamas terror organization which is controlling Gaza and we hope that this situation will change," he said. "We discussed the efforts that need to be made to strengthen the moderate forces within the Palestinian Authority."
Political sources in Jerusalem said that Prodi's attitude towards Israel was very friendly. He toured the southern town of Sderot, a constant target of Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. He was the first foreign leader to do so.
Olmert hosted Prodi for dinner and a reception ceremony, and spoke warmly about the friendship between the two of them.
Prodi will meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday in Ramallah.