Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was interrupted by a member of audience as he gave a speech in Tel Aviv on Thursday, and was subjected to a barrage of questions about his efforts to release the three Israel Defense Forces soldiers currently in captivity - Gilad Shalit, who is being held by Palestinian miltiants in Gaza, and Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose July 12 abduction by Hezbollah sparked the Second Lebanon War.

"What are you doing to make sure they [the abducted soldiers] will celebrate, like the rest of us, Passover Seder?" asked Danny Valla, member of Kibbutz Yotvata.

"A day doesn't go by without me making efforts to resolve this painful issue. It takes time. There's no instant solution in this case. I regret I cannot elaborate on this topic," the prime minister said in response.

	Advertisement

Olmert told the conference of the Kibbutz Movement that, "releasing the abducted soldiers is a difficult task that takes time."

Speaking on peace efforts, the prime minister said that Israel would be happy to make peace with Syria, adding "I hope that the conditions would be right for negotiations."

"This government will not miss out on an opportunity to engage in talks with our enemies. This includes making concessions. We will maneuver responsibly and with care," he said.

Olmert said that Israel was willing to make "sweeping, painful and tough concessions" to encourage dialogue with its enemies.

He told the conference that a dormant Saudi Arabian plan for a comprehensive Middle East peace could be a "convenient basis" for contacts between Israel and Arab moderates.

The Saudi plan calls for full diplomatic relations between the entire Arab world and Israel in exchange for full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israel rejected it outright when it was first proposed in 2002, and hardened its opposition after the Arab League tacked on an addendum endorsing the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to homes in Israel.

But with recent meetings between Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas yielding sparse results, Israel has begun showing tentative interest in the plan. Arab countries are expected to revive the proposal at a summit later this month in Riyadh.

The push to reinvigorate the Saudi plan comes at a time when many moderate Arab governments are worried about rising tensions in the region and view progress on the Palestinian-Israeli issue as a way to defuse frictions and blunt Iran's growing influence.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said earlier this month that Israel would not accept the Arab peace plan as it is, but would ask that any reference be dropped on the issue of the right of the Palestinians displaced in the 1948 War of Independence to return to their homes inside Israel.

Arab leaders dismissed amending the proposal, saying land-for-peace offer should not be changed.

More on the Saudi peace initiative: