VOA标准英语2008年-Olmert: No Peace Deal With Palestinians in 2008

Israel is lowering expectations for a breakthrough in U.S.-sponsored peace talks with the Palestinians in 2008. Robert Berger reports from the VOA bureau in Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he does not believe that Israel and the Palestinians can achieve their stated goal of a peace agreement by the end of the year. He told the Israeli parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense¹ Committee that the main sticking point is the status of Jerusalem.

The United States has been pushing for a peace agreement before President Bush leaves office in January. But officials at the closed-door meeting with Mr. Olmert quoted him as saying that there is "no practical chance" of resolving the Jerusalem issue that quickly.

Palestinian analyst² Mahdi Abdel Hadi believes Israel is not prepared to share Jerusalem, but is trying to dictate³ a solution.

"The question of today, if you want to share it, [is] on what basis, what is the law, what is the system? Are we talking about international law, are we talking about an agreement backed and supported by the international community? Or we are talking about [an] imposed Israeli agenda on the city of Jerusalem, take it or leave it?"

A major sticking point is sovereignty over the site Jews call the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism, where the biblical Temples once stood. Today it is home to the Mosque⁴ of al Aksa, the third holiest place in Islam.

Israeli analyst Hillel Frisch says that while the religious and ideological⁵ issues are difficult, an even bigger problem for Israel is security in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

"If we would withdraw from East Jerusalem, it would mean that basically the terrorist organizations would set up camp just, literally⁶, a stones throw away from the Jerusalem that most Jews reside in," said Frisch.

Mr. Olmert said the gaps are not as wide on other key issues, such as final borders and the future of Palestinian refugees. But with the end-of-the-year deadline approaching, Jerusalem is emerging as the deal breaker.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

4 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

5 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。