Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a psychopath and an anti-Semite, Israel’s Ehud Olmert said. “Ahmadinejad speaks today like Hitler before taking power,” Olmert told the German newspaper Bild on Saturday. “He speaks of the complete destruction and annihilation of the Jewish people.” The prime minister cited Ahmadinejad’s repeated calls for Israel’s destruction as a reason for the international community to curb the Iranian nuclear program. “You see, we are dealing with a psychopath of the worst kind, with an anti-Semite,” Olmert said. “God forbid that this man ever gets his hands on nuclear weapons, to carry out his threats.”
Hamas may endorse an Arab League proposal for normalization with Israel. Officials from the radical Islamic group, which has been under international pressure to reform since it took over the Palestinian Authority, said in weekend reports that while they had no intention of recognizing the Jewish state, they might accept the so-called “Saudi peace proposal” adopted at the 2002 summit of the Arab League. Under the proposal, Israel would enjoy normalization with the Arab world if it withdraws from territories captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. At the time, Israel rejected the overture as prejudging a final peace deal. Jerusalem is also standing firm on its insistence that Hamas renounce terrorism, as well as the aspects of the Hamas charter that call for Israel’s destruction, before negotiations can begin.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
