JERUSALEM, July 10 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that recent violence has not swayed him from his realignment plan.
The prime minister, speaking about the plan for the first time since violence erupted after the June 25 abduction of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit at the hands of Palestinians, said his commitment to the plan had not changed, and he was "absolutely determined to ultimately separate from the Palestinians," the Jerusalem Post reported Monday.
"If terrorist organizations force a violence confrontation, I am afraid both Israelis and Palestinians will bear the consequences," Olmert said. "But they can't stop the inevitable historic process. It is the only solution, the only way that Palestinians can realize their dream of a Palestinian state."
However, he told the Post "violence is a threat to any peace process," and "the continued shooting of Qassam missiles in the south is a threat not only to the south, it is a threat to any peaceful reality in the southern part (of Israel), and also on the eastern front between us and the Palestinians."
