President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman, called on the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah to be disarmed in order to reach peace in the Middle East, in an address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday.
President Zeman emphasised: “I am a friend of Israel – a deep friend of Israel. That is why I think that peace in the Middle East should be based primarily in the safety of Israel”.
He continued: “I know the history of all the wars starting from 1948. Israel was victorious in every war, but had it been defeated it would have meant the end of that State – the Jewish State. Unfortunately, in some countries or movements – Hezbollah, Hamas, and others – there survives a tendency to diminish or to destroy Israel”.
The Czech President said: “What should we do to have peace in the Middle East? We must disarm the terrorist organisation, and first of all Hamas and Hezbollah”.
President Zeman was responding to a question by CFI Deputy-Chairman John Howell OBE MP, who asked “What can you do, and what can we do, to bring peace to the Middle East?”
In a speech to the Council of Europe, Mr Howell underlined the importance of supporting stability in Jordan. He warned of the consequences: “So that we do not end up with a worse problem in that country spreading out across the area and resulting in instability for the whole region, including for its neighbour, Israel”.
