Powell calls for 'hard compromises' from Israelis, Palestinians

Secretary of State Colin Powell

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (CNN) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that the United States stands ready to help reignite the Middle East peace process, but said both sides must make solid, good faith efforts to end violence before the process moves forward.

The eventual aim, Powell told a receptive University of Louisville audience, is completion of so-called "final status" talks, which would lead to the peaceful coexistence of Israel and a new state of Palestine.

"We have a vision for a region where the states of Israel and Palestine live side-by-side in secure, recognizable borders," Powell said.

Powell had intended to deliver Monday's address in September, but his attention was turned elsewhere by the terror attacks. Peace initiatives by the United States, he said Monday, would be essential to the stability of the entire Middle East, and would likely aid efforts in the war on international terrorism.

But the Palestinians and Israelis, he warned, face hard choices in a dangerous time.

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The Palestinians, he began, must guarantee an end to violence and terrorism.

"If there is to be real peace, Israelis must be free to live their lives free of terror and war," Powell said. "There must be real results, not just words and declarations. The Palestinians must live up to (their) agreements, and must be held to account when they do not."

The Israelis, he added, must end their occupation of Palestinian lands, and cease their humiliation of Palestinians.

"The overwhelming majority of Palestinians have grown up with checkpoints and raids and indignities," he said. "Too many innocent Palestinians, including children, have been killed and hurt as well. This too must stop."

"Treating individuals with respect and dignity is the surest path of understanding," Powell said.

Powell, previewing his speech Sunday, said he wished to outline "a vision of hope and promise" for the Middle East -- but he would not offer any new plan to restart the peace process in the region.

"People keep asking for a new plan. We have a plan. It's a solid plan. It's called the Mitchell Committee report," Powell said on the "Fox News Sunday" news show. "It leads to the kinds of negotiations that are required to settle these issues."

"The only way you get to those negotiations is to enter the front door of the Mitchell plan by getting the violence down. And until that happens, we're not going to go anywhere," he said.

Powell said that in order to move the peace process forward, Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat "needs to get the violence down."

"He needs to make a 100-percent effort to end all the violence. And we need to see results that reflect that 100-percent effort," Powell said.

The Mitchell Committee report was drafted by an international commission headed by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell. It called for a cessation of violence and a series of confidence-building measures, leading to negotiations to settle the remaining issues between Israel and the Palestinians.

Powell also said the United States would oppose any move by Arafat to build a coalition government with Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and other Palestinian groups that the United States has identified as supporting terrorism.

"Any coalition that brings into that coalition the sorts of organizations that practice those kinds of activities, we would have to take a ... dim view of that," he said.