Leading the way

About a week or so Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said(*) he believes that "if Israel acts wisely, it will be possible to turn the tragedy (of the war) into a peace opportunity".

Now it was Israel's Prime Minister's turn to call for peace between Lebanon and Israel:

Olmert, meanwhile, said he hoped the cease-fire would provide an opening for contacts between Israel and Lebanon. "I hope the conditions will change rapidly to allow direct contact between the government of Israel and the government of Lebanon to hopefully to reach agreement between the two countries," he said.

The cease-fire deal could be "a cornerstone to build a new reality between Israel and Lebanon," he said.

Talking is cheap, I know, but when the people who say them are the two countries' Prime Ministers, can't we at least hope this is a one small step that will precede a giant leap?

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(*) The link is to an article in Hebrew, so if anyone can provide an English/Arabic/French reference to Saniora's statement, it will be greatly appreciated.

Tags: Peace, War, Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Olmert, Saniora, אולמרט, סניורה