VOA常速英语2007-Olmert Vows to Work Toward Peace Deal With Pales

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
08 October 2007

Israel's leader has extended an olive branch to the Palestinians in a speech to parliament. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, the speech brought angry reaction from hawkish¹ opposition² leaders.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he is committed to reaching a peace agreement with western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"The current Palestinian leadership is not a terrorist leadership," he said, adding that they too want peace.

Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas have met frequently since the Islamic militant³ group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. Hamas routed the Fatah forces led by Mr. Abbas, who now heads a moderate government in the West Bank.

Speaking at the opening of the winter session in the Knesset, Mr. Olmert said an upcoming international peace conference in the United States would be followed by the resumption of formal peace talks with the Palestinians.

Mr. Olmert said Israel would have to give up some of its dreams, a reference to holding on to all the biblical Land of Israel.

That brought heckling from the right-wing opposition.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Mr. Olmert's peace plan would bring the nation to disaster.

He said Hamas would quickly take over the West Bank if Israel pulls out, just as it did after Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza two years ago. Mr. Netanyahu said Hamas would then launch a wave of terror on Jerusalem that would force many Jews to leave the city.

Mr. Olmert admitted that despite the goodwill⁴ of President Abbas, it remains⁵ to be seen whether he can quell⁶ terrorism and implement⁷ a peace agreement.

1 hawkish   

adj. 鹰派的, 强硬派的

参考例句：

• My staff's advice that first day was amazingly hawkish. 在第一天，我的僚属们的意见是令人吃惊的鹰派意见。
• Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet. 反战团体担心巴拉克·奥巴马可以创建强硬派内阁。

2 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

7 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。