VOA标准英语2010年-Netanyahu: No Guarantee Talks With Pal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there is no guarantee the U.S.-mediated talks that resumed with the Palestinians last week will succeed.

 

The words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were the latest indication of the low hopes that negotiators are placing on the direct talks that kicked off in Washington on September 2.

Mr. Netanyahu spoke¹ to Israelis in a Jewish New Year's address.

The Israeli leader said the talks are a sincere attempt at reaching a peace agreement. But he said there are many obstacles and many reasons for doubt. Mr. Netanyahu said there is a necessity for peace and he is trying sincerely, but not naively².

Israel entered the negotiations³ demanding any future Palestinian state be demilitarized. It also wants to maintain a presence along the West Bank's border with Jordan in order to protect Israel from attacks by Arab militants⁴.

In his remarks, the Israeli leader said any agreement will have to be based on the Jewish state's security needs.

He said no peace arrangement can survive unless it is anchored on real security arrangements. Not provisions on paper, he said, but on on-the-ground security arrangements carried out by Israelis. He said Israel also wants the Palestinians to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. He said that since Israel is being asked to recognize a Palestinian state, it is, in his words, proper and natural that the other side recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Palestinians have in the past rejected calls to recognize Israel as a Jewish State. They believe that by doing so, they would relinquish⁵ the rights of millions of Arabs who live inside Israel and hold Israeli citizenship⁶.

A key issue in the negotiations is that of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinians have threatened to quit negotiations if Israel continues building inside the settlements.

Israel's self-imposed 10-month partial freeze on settlement construction expires on September 26, and there are no indications of plans to extend it. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he has asked the United States to intervene in the settlements dispute.
 

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 naively   

adv. 天真地

参考例句：

• They naively assume things can only get better. 他们天真地以为情况只会变好。
• In short, Knox's proposal was ill conceived and naively made. 总而言之，诺克斯的建议考虑不周，显示幼稚。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。