President Shimon Peres
hosted Tuesday evening leaders of the Arab-Israeli community for a traditional dinner to break the Ramadan fast. "We are all descendents of our father Abraham and can coexist.
"The God that you pray to in Arabic and the one we pray to in Hebrew does not command us to throw bombs but to pray," he said. "A world without Islam will be a more miserable one, as will a world without Judaism, Christianity or Buddhism."
Among the dignitaries who attended the dinner were the Jordanian and Turkish ambassadors to Israel, Islamist Movement founder Sheikh Abdullah Nimar Darwish and Shawki Hatib, chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee.
The president continued to say that "we do not aspire to be conquerors" and compared the Arab-Israeli conflict to other disputes that
were eventually resolved.
"During the 60 years since Israel's inception we have fought seven wars, but also signed two peace agreements," he said. "Did we not return (all of the conquered land) to Egypt? We also gave Jordan all of the water resources back. This is how we ended the occupation. I am certain that this scenario will repeat itself with the Palestinians."
The president said the solution must entail an independent Palestinian state. "I don’t believe one state for two nations is feasible. There must be two separate states for two nations," he said.
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