Link to the entire briefing.
Mr. Boucher: Yes. Ha’aretz has just come out with a poll saying that American people are 75 percent against the Israeli policies are contributing to anti-Americanism. The Zogby poll has come out also with a very similar parallel, saying that 49 percent say that Sharon's policies are actually endangering American security around the world.
In that context, you issued a report yesterday blaming the Palestinians for almost all the problems and you have not brought any consequences, US Government consequences, to Israeli actions using American weaponry. Are there going to be any consequences?
Mr. Boucher: We have made our policy quite clear. We have made quite clear the violence has to stop. There's no way to get to peace, there's no way to get to a Palestinian state, if the violence and terrorism continue. And we've repeatedly called upon the Palestinians to do everything they can to stop the violence, and yet, despite this, we've seen bombings and terrorism continue.
We have also made clear that as a friend and an ally and a democracy, we'll support Israel. We'll support Israel's right to defend themselves. But we have also made quite clear during this process that the Israelis need to be aware of the consequences of their actions. We have, indeed, been quite open about our concerns about the Israeli activities, particularly the civilian casualties that have resulted from many of the Israeli actions, including those in the last few days. We have seen a number of people hurt and killed, old people, young people, as well. We have made our concerns clear about demolition of houses, for example, and other things, including some of those that have happened recently.
So I think the United States has been quite clear in this situation, made our view known that while Israel had its right to defend itself, they really needed to consider the consequences, and that we had our views about some of their actions including those that resulted in civilian casualties.
Question: Was that political report --
Mr. Boucher: I think he's referring to the political report, yeah, which is slightly different because the law changed. So its got some different stuff in it this time.
Question: You've expressed your concerns that these things continue, like demolitions continue daily, just about. Are there any consequences for this defiance of your opinion?
Mr. Boucher: Are you going to continue the sentence and say we've expressed our concern about the violence and the need for the Palestinians to stop it, and yet this has continued as well? We are dealing with a very difficult --
Question: You don't see consequences on that side. There's no consequences for the Israelis?
Mr. Boucher: I don't know if that -- I would have to say, Jonathan, we're dealing with a very complicated situation. The United States continues to push forward in this situation. We continue to work to implement the President's vision of June 24th and to make clear to both sides that they have obligations and responsibilities, and we've continued to try to move from the current situation of violence into one where people on both sides can live better and live safer and live easier and solve these problems peacefully.
Question: Richard, can you address specifically the incident in Gaza today in which ten Palestinians were killed, including possibly seven civilians, including a janitor at the UN-run school and a UN teacher?
Mr. Boucher: I don't have enough details on that to try to talk about it in specific terms. I think my remarks earlier covered it.
