Cheney holds Middle East peace talks

US Vice President Dick Cheney began Easter Sunday with a prayer and the singing of “Amazing Grace” at a tiny chapel in Jerusalem, then launched into a day of talks about the Mideast peace process and the rising influence of Iran in the region.

“We are obviously dedicated to doing all we can as an administration to try to move the peace process forward, and obviously actively involved in dealing with the threats that we see emerging in the region – not only threats to Israel, but threats to the US as well,” said Cheney, a strong supporter of Israel, in a meeting with President Shimon Peres.

It was clear that Cheney was referring to Iran, but Peres was more specific, saying the anti-Israel declarations that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes against Israel, and Iran’s support for Lebanese and Palestinian militant groups, cannot be ignored.

“We have this problem of the Iranians who want to build two satellites, the Hezbollah (in Lebanon) and the Hamas in Gaza. … Nobody can control us and say that declarations by Ahmadinejad are less serious,” Peres said. “We have to take it seriously.”

He said time is of the essence in the peace process, but that he believes progress is achievable.

“The mere fact that in spite of the differences the negotiations go on is a great hope for the future,” Peres said.

Israel has been pursuing peace with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas since the two sides relaunched talks at a US-sponsored conference in November. At the same time, it has been battling Hamas, which wrested control of the Gaza Strip in June from Abbas-allied forces and has bombarded southern Israel with rockets.

There has been a recent lull in the Gaza violence, however, amid Egyptian efforts to broker a truce.

Nimer Hamad, a political adviser to Abbas, said he saw no chance for an agreement in 2008 if Israel continued settlement expansion and its military incursions: “Without strong American intervention and pressure on Israel, there will be no progress in the peace talks,” he said.

Hamas scoffed at the Cheney peacekeeping mission.

“All the visits of the American administration officials to the region have one goal, which is to give unlimited support to the occupation and the Israeli government, and to encourage their aggressions against our people,” said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

He said the “so-called peace process” was a “paralysed and ailing” fiction, and said Cheney was visiting Abbas “to encourage him to practice more anti-Hamas policy and work against the unity of his people”.

Cheney began the day with his wife, Lynne, and daughter, Liz, attending a non denominational service at Lazarist Monastery, which rents out space to the US consulate for diplomatic work with the Palestinian Authority.

Afterward, he had breakfast with Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and went to meetings with Peres and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Later Cheney was going to Ramallah in the West Bank to meet with Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Cheney is on a 10-day trip to the Mideast, where oil, the future of Iraq and Afghanistan and Iran’s rising influence in the region have highlighted his talks with foreign leaders. His visit is part of the Bush administration’s strategy to keep the pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to reach a framework agreement for peace before Bush leaves office in January 2009.

Last night, Cheney offered a bold defence of Israel. Standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Cheney said that the US wants a new beginning for the Palestinian people but will never pressure Israel to take steps that would jeopardise its security.

“America’s commitment to Israel’s security is enduring and unshakeable, as is our commitment to Israel’s right to defend itself – always – against terrorism, rocket attacks and other threats from forces dedicated to Israel’s destruction,” Cheney said. “The US will never pressure Israel to take steps that threaten its security.”