VOA标准英语2009-Israel's PM Says He Would Accept a Demilitar

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he would accept a Palestinian state as long as it has no military force and recognizes Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. His remarks came in a major policy speech late Sunday in which he said he believes peace is possible. Mr. Netanyahu's remarks have drawn¹ an angry response from the Palestinian leadership.
　
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, 14 Jun 2009

It was the first time the Israeli Prime Minister has called for the creation of a Palestinian state since taking office this year.

The speech, delivered at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv, was aimed at easing tensions with Washington.

Benjamin Netanyahu's earlier refusal to endorse² a Palestinian state is one of the issues that has put him at odds³ with the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, who says Palestinian statehood is the only way to resolve the conflict.

Mr. Netanyahu said he is willing to restart negotiations⁴, and he laid out Israel's conditions for agreeing to Palestinian statehood. First, he said, the Palestinians must explicitly⁵ recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.

He also said that in any peace agreement, the territory under Palestinian control must be disarmed⁶, with solid security guarantees for Israel.

He added that Israel would continue to control the airspace of any future Palestinian state.

Mr. Netanyahu said that if Israel gets a guarantee for demilitarization and security arrangements, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Israel would be willing to reach a peace agreement that includes a demilitarized Palestinian state.

The Israeli leader's speech drew immediate⁷ criticism from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A spokesman for Mr. Abbas accused the Israeli leader of sabotaging⁸ the peace process. The spokesman said Mr. Netanyahu's conditions would not lead to a complete and just peace.
　
Hanan Ashrawi (2008 photo)

Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi, a former aide to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, says she does not see Mr. Netanyahu's remarks pushing the peace process forward.

"The first condition is that all Palestinians transform themselves suddenly to become Zionists, i.e., to adopt the Zionist ideology⁹ that our homeland is not ours, that our history not ours, that our future and our future state is not ours," said Hanan Ashrawi. "In a sense, he's saying, 'Okay, you can have whatever entity¹⁰ you want. You can call it a state, but it will have none of the attributes of sovereignty or your own genuine control.'"

Ashrawi calls Mr. Netanyahu's position "regressive".

"It is just a new formulation - not even new," she said. "It's a reformulation of an old and tired and failed ideology, and it's not going to get us anywhere."

The Israeli leader said the issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank - one of the key sticking points in the peace process - would be discussed as part of a final peace agreement. He suggested that there would be no immediate moves to remove the settlements and said the settlers should be allowed to live normal lives for the time being.

Mr. Netanyahu repeated Israel's longstanding position that it will not allow a return of the Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 after the creation of the State Israel. He said Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state, would remain the undivided capital of Israel.

Some analysts¹¹ say Mr. Netanyahu's new willingness to negotiate might represent a move forward in the peace process.

With the Israeli leadership's position now clearer, it remains¹² to be seen whether the Palestinians will return to negotiations under Israel's new terms.

1 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

2 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

3 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 disarmed   

v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。
• The swordsman disarmed his opponent and ran him through. 剑客缴了对手的械，并对其乱刺一气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 sabotaging   

阴谋破坏（某事物）( sabotage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr Smith fiercely denied any question of sabotaging the talks. 史密斯先生坚决拒绝任何企图阻挠谈话的提问。
• Failed in sabotaging APEC summit in Sydney of Australia. 澳大利亚悉尼APEC会议遭遇惨败。

9 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

10 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 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。