Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday at the opening of a one-day Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, that “we want to make peace. We demand an end to terror, incitement and hatred. We are willing to make a painful compromise, rife with risks, in order to realize these aspirations”. The Israeli prime minister spoke after U.S. President George W. Bush read a joint declaration, agreed upon by both the Palestinians and Israelis, that included a commitment to work for a peace deal by the end of 2008. Olmert also pledged that Israel “will not avoid any subject, we will deal with all the core issues.”
