Peace with neighbors necessary for Israel - Ex-Premier

Israel needs peace with all its neighbors, Israel's former prime minister and former defense minister, Ehud Barak said during his speech at the South Caucasus Forum in Baku on Tuesday.

"From the very moment of Israel's formation, it has been involved in several wars and many military operations. This is a rather difficult situation, because, on the one hand, we have 1.5 million non-Jews, very good citizens, and on the other hand, we are surrounded by states that are hostile to us," Barak said.

According to him, Muslims living in Israel relate to Palestine to varying extents.

"The situation in Israel is influenced by events occurring outside the country. We have achieved peace with Egypt thanks to far-sighted policy pursued by Anwar Sadat. The late King Hussein of Jordan took very important steps that resulted in peace between Jordan and Israel," he said.

Barak said that unfortunately, Israel has failed to achieve peace with Palestine.

"Meetings were held with former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but, unfortunately, we were not able to achieve results. A similar situation occurred with the last government of Palestine headed by Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas). We need peace with neighboring countries. I do not want to create any illusions about the fact that the problem will be solved right away, but I believe someone has to be courageous and take the risks needed for the achievement of the peace with our neighbors," Barak said.


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