Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi arrives in Israel Monday for a three-day visit. In the course of the visit, Berlusconi will visit Yad Vashem, plant a tree in Jerusalem's Grove of Nations and speak at a special session at the Knesset, where seven original sketches from Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus will also be put on display. 

Berlusconi will be accompanied on his trip by eight Italian cabinet ministers who will for the first time participate in a joint cabinet meeting. The meeting will also highlight bilateral cooperation in the fields of science, technology and culture. A special conference will be held bringing together leaders of Italian business, industry and science and their Israeli counterparts. Three laboratories that were funded by the Italians will be dedicated in the course of the visit. 

Haaretz asked the Italian prime minister to relate to several current issues pertaining to ties between the two countries. His responses were as follows: 
 
On his exceptional friendship with Israel: 

"For my entire life, first as an entrepreneur and later as prime minister, I have had a love of freedom. The Jewish people, with courage and persistence, created a paragon of democracy in the Middle East. Israel is part of Europe. It belongs to the West. It believes in the values of democracy in which we, too, believe. As a result, I always supported Israel. As a result, as prime minister, I changed Italy's foreign policy and thereby turned Italy into Israel's closest friend in Europe ... I would like to add that the visit I made to Auschwitz [in January 2005] made a deep impression on me. I told myself there that it was impossible not to be Israeli. 

"At the same time, I cultivated ties with the moderate leaders of the Arab and Muslim world. Italy today is an essential stop, sometimes the first, that Middle Eastern leaders make in Europe. We feel involved in efforts to find a lasting and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian question. Italy proposed the beautiful town of Arice as a location for future peace talks between the [two] sides." 

On the Middle East peace process: 

"Henry Kissinger used to say that there could never be war in the Middle East without Egypt, but no peace was possible without Syria. By virtue of the courage of statesmen like [Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat and [Israeli Prime Minister Menachem] Begin, Egypt definitively disengaged from this equation and President [Hosni] Mubarak has decisively continued on this path. The time has come for Syria and Israel to act together for the sake of peace, in the framework of which the Golan Heights will be returned and at the same time diplomatic and friendly relations will be established between the two countries, and Damascus for its part will stop supporting organizations that do not recognize Israel's existence. All of us are working to find a comprehensive solution, and Italy's presence in Lebanon [as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force] is testimony to this." 

On Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank and relations with the Palestinians: 

"Israel's settlement policy could be an obstacle to peace. I would like to say to the people and government of Israel, as a friend, with my hand on my heart, that persisting with this policy is a mistake. I welcomed Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu's courage in his announcement of a 10-month [residential settlement construction] freeze. It will never be possible to convince the Palestinians of Israel's good intentions while Israel continues to build in territories that are to be returned as part of a peace agreement. At the same time, what happened in Gaza should prompt some thought. It is not possible to evacuate communities to [then] face burned synagogues, acts of destruction, and inter-Palestinian violence and missiles being shot into Israeli territory. 
 
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1146341.html
 
 
 

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