JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he's had a good relationship under both Democrats and Republicans in Congress

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reacted to the U.S. elections this week, saying he's always had "a good relationship with Congress." In an interview on NBC's Today Show Friday (November 10), Olmert said that under democrats and republicans "America is friendly to Israel and Israel is a great friend to America." The Prime Minister also responded to questions about the United States' relationship with Iran in dealing with the issue of nuclear weapons. Olmert said, "I have enormous respect for President Bush. I think that he's absolutely committed. I know that America will not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons because this is a danger to the whole western world." The Prime Minister also talked about the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict and said despite suicide bombing and attacks between the two sides, "Jerusalem will ever remain an open city." Tens of thousands of Palestinians wept and screamed for revenge on Thursday (November 9) as they buried 18 civilians killed in Gaza by Israeli shelling that Israel's prime minister blamed on a technical failure. Olmert, saying he was very distressed by the deaths of innocent people, had said the carnage was the result of a "technical failure" by Israeli artillery. An army spokeswoman said a targeting system fault was to blame and that artillery shelling in Gaza, suspended since the incident, would not be renewed until "all technical examinations are completed". She did not say how long the checks would take. Palestinian leaders have called Wednesday's (November 8) attack a massacre. Some Hamas lawmakers have threatened that its armed wing would resume suicide attacks against Israel. The Israeli army said it was targeting rocket launchers using the Beit Hanoun area as a staging ground to fire makeshift missiles at the Jewish state. After the inquiry into the incident, Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said in a statement any future artillery fire in the Gaza Strip would be conducted only on the order of Israel's southern command chief, who is a major-general, or someone more senior. Olmert said the artillery unit had targeted an orange grove, "where we had spotted shooting seconds before" but a technical fault sent the shells in the wrong direction. The Beit Hanoun killings rallied Palestinians after months of factional infighting between Fatah and Hamas, which is dedicated to Israel's destruction.

ITN Source | November 11, 2006

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