NYT: Peres Says Israelis Must Overcome Skepticism About Peace
President Shimon Peres of Israel said Sunday that there was an urgent need for peace with the Palestinians and that Israelis “have to overcome skepticism and doubt” to end the long conflict by establishing “two states for two peoples.”
“We shouldn’t be cynical,” Mr. Peres, an advocate of the two-state solution, said as he arrived for a conference of the World Economic Forum. “We shouldn’t lose the opportunity because it will be replaced by a great disappointment.”
Mr. Peres is scheduled to speak Sunday evening alongside Secretary of State John Kerry, who planned to present highlights of an economic initiative for the Palestinian territories after two months of an intense effort to revive the peace process that included four visits to the region. Mr. Kerry has said that he hopes to pursue economic and political tracks in parallel, reigniting peace talks while developing agricultural, tourism and technology businesses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Many Israeli and Palestinian leaders who are dubious about the prospect of negotiations have been waiting to hear details of the economic proposals.
President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and King Abdullah II of Jordan are also expected to attend the session, before which a group of some 300 Israeli and Palestinian business leaders plan to issue their own call for a resumption of negotiations.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/world/middleeast/peres-says-israel-must-overcome-skepticism-about-peace.html
