Israel would prefer a negotiated agreement to a second unilateral withdrawal from the occupied

Palestinian territories, Israeli Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday.

In his first public speech since taking office after prime minister Ariel Sharon suffered severe stroke three weeks ago, Olmert said Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank last September was a "turning point for the state of Israel."

Olmert told the Annual Herzliya Conference that he is aware of pressure on Israel to consider another unilateral move if negotiations fail, but "we prefer an agreement."

Olmert said that the main challenge facing Israel now is setting the permanent borders of Israel to ensure a Jewish majority.

"The choice between allowing Jews to live in all parts of the land of Israel and living in a state with a Jewish majority mandates giving up parts of the land of Israel," he said. "We cannot continue to control parts of the territories where most of the Palestinians live."

"Israel will keep security zones, main settlement blocs, and places important to the Jewish people, first of all, Jerusalem, united under Israeli control. There can be no Jewish state without Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty," Olmert said.

The Acting PM declared that a government under his leadership would be committed to the road map peace plan which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state within temporary borders, as a transitional phase to the final-status agreement.

"We support the establishment of a modern, democratic Palestinian state that will respect civil rights," Olmert continued. "Their wellbeing is our wellbeing. Their stability is our stability."

But he stressed, "The key to advancing the political process is the Palestinians ending terrorism. We're tired of declarations and empty promises."

Referring to Wednesday's Palestinian parliamentary elections, Olmert hoped the Palestinians would not "choose again the extremists who have led them from tragedy to tragedy and to sorrowful lives."

Source: Xinhua