2006年VOA标准英语-Israeli PM Heads to Washington as Palestin

By Meredith Buel
Washington
17 May 2006

Newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is scheduled to visit the White House May 23 for talks with President Bush. The visit comes at a time when the Hamas-led Palestinian government faces a deepening financial crisis.

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Ehud Olmert    
  

In the past six months there have been dramatic changes in Palestinian politics, severely¹ complicating² efforts to reinvigorate the Middle East peace process.

Palestinian elections in January brought victory to Hamas, a group the United States, Israel, and the European Union say is a terrorist organization.

In March, Israel's new Kadima Party won the most seats in parliamentary elections, and Ehud Olmert became prime minister after Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke.

The success of Hamas at the polls led to the cutoff of direct assistance from the United States and other countries to the Palestinian government.

This created a financial crisis within the Hamas-led administration because it has run out of money to pay its 165-thousand employees.

Palestinian parliament member Ziad Abu-Amr says this could lead to a disaster in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "The Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian order as a whole may be on the verge³ of a virtual collapse⁴. I think unless something is done real fast this eventuality may materialize anytime. The situation is rather precarious," he said.

The United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, a group of Middle East mediators called the "Quartet", have agreed to find a way to finance humanitarian⁵ programs in the Palestinian Territories.

Israel has also indicated a willingness to release some of the Palestinian tax revenue it collects that has been frozen since Hamas came to power.

But Abu-Amr says the cutoff of direct aid has increased hostility⁶ toward donor⁷ countries. "I think the United States of America and the European Union and the international community will do better if they find different rules of engaging the Palestinians other than this collective punishment and siege and boycott⁸, which is construed⁹ and understood by the Palestinians as a means of humiliating the Palestinians, subjugating¹⁰ the Palestinians," he said.

The new Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he is willing to negotiate with the Palestinians, but has expressed doubts that Hamas will be a partner in peace.

In the coming talks at the White House, Mr. Olmert is expected to outline a plan for unilateral separation, which calls for Israel to withdraw troops and Jewish settlers from large parts of the West Bank, while annexing¹¹ major settlement blocks. Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip last year.

Palestinians have condemned¹² the proposal, saying it amounts to a massive land grab that violates international law.

Zalman Shoval, who served twice as the Israeli ambassador to the United States, says many people in his country have come to the conclusion that such independent action is the only way to move forward. "If before there had not been too much confidence in talks with the Palestinians anyway, after the Hamas victory there is almost a consensus¹³ in Israel that there is no one to talk to. Therefore, unilateral steps of one sort or another are the only practical option," he said.

With the Israelis preparing to act without an agreement with the Palestinians, and Hamas heading the Palestinian Authority, Middle East analysts¹⁴ see little chance for reviving the peace process.

"Never has there been a grimmer situation for the pursuit of real, meaningful and effective peacemaking," said Aaron David Miller¹⁵, a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he is writing a book about his 20-years at the State Department helping¹⁶ to formulate¹⁷ policy on the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"You have what I would describe to you as the four no's. There is no trust between Israelis and Palestinians. There is no effective and empowered contacts or negotiations¹⁸ between Israelis and Palestinians. There is no governing set of principles, mutually acceptable or accepted by Israelis and Palestinians that constrain¹⁹ or regulate their behavior. Finally, the fourth no, there is no third party willing and or able to play an effective and meaningful role in response to either crisis or opportunity," he said.

Mr. Olmert has insisted that no peace talks will take place with the Palestinians until Hamas agrees to recognize the Jewish state, something Hamas has refused to do.

During his visit to Washington Mr. Olmert is expected to seek both diplomatic and financial support for his plans to withdraw unilaterally from the West Bank.

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

3 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

7 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

8 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

9 construed   

v.解释（陈述、行为等）( construe的过去式和过去分词 )；翻译，作句法分析

参考例句：

• He considered how the remark was to be construed. 他考虑这话该如何理解。
• They construed her silence as meaning that she agreed. 他们把她的沉默解释为表示赞同。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 subjugating   

v.征服，降伏( subjugate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

11 annexing   

并吞( annex的现在分词 )； 兼并； 强占； 并吞（国家、地区等）

参考例句：

• In addition to annexing territory, they exacted huge indemnities. 割地之外，又索去了巨大的赔款。
• He succeeded in annexing all the property of Hindley's and the Linton's. 他成功的占有了亨得利和林顿的所有财产。

12 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

13 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

14 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

15 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

18 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。

19 constrain   

vt.限制，约束；克制，抑制

参考例句：

• She tried to constrain herself from a cough in class.上课时她竭力忍住不咳嗽。
• The study will examine the factors which constrain local economic growth.这项研究将考查抑制当地经济发展的因素。