VOA常速英语2007-Olmert Says Peace Conference Will Lead to Talks

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
07 October 2007

Israel has signaled that it is ready to resume formal peace talks with the Palestinians. But as Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, a Palestinian rocket attack is overshadowing progress on the diplomatic front.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet that the aim of the upcoming international peace conference in the United States is to launch direct negotiations¹ with the Palestinians.

Mr. Olmert said the purpose of the talks would be to be to resolve the Middle East conflict by creating two states, Israel and Palestine, for two peoples.

It would be the first formal peace talks since negotiations collapsed² in a wave of violence more than six years ago.

Mr. Olmert described western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a peace partner. He said Israel needs to move forward with Palestinian moderates after the Islamic militant³ group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. Hamas routed the Fatah forces led by Mr. Abbas, who now heads the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Mr. Olmert said the talks would be based on the internationally-backed "Roadmap" peace plan. The Roadmap calls for the Palestinians to dismantle⁴ terrorist groups and Israel to halt settlement activity, but neither side has carried out its commitments.

While Mr. Olmert discussed the peace process with the Cabinet, Palestinians in Gaza fired a Russian-made Katyusha rocket into Israel, showing that militants⁵ have improved their weapons capabilities⁶. The Katyusha has a longer range than homemade Palestinian rockets and is capable of hitting the major Israeli city of Ashkelon. The army says Palestinians have smuggled⁷ tons of weapons into Gaza from Egypt since Israel pulled out of the territory two years ago.

Israeli opposition⁸ leaders said the rocket attack is a warning to Mr. Olmert not to make a land-for-peace deal with Mr. Abbas. They said if Mr. Olmert carries out his plan to relinquish⁹ large parts of the West Bank, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will be within range of Palestinian rockets.

1 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。

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 relinquish   

v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手

参考例句：

• He was forced to relinquish control of the company.他被迫放弃公司的掌控权。
• They will never voluntarily relinquish their independence.他们绝对不会自动放弃独立。