Whats Australias position on the existence of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and other areas?
JULIA GILLARD: Well, what the position of the Labor Party and Labor Government is that we want to see a two state solution. We want to see a situation where there are secure borders and two states. My colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, has said that we want to see a halt to settlement activity. President Obama, of course, very, very recently has made an incredibly important address on this topic, and we are now seeing reactions from Israeli leaders. I expect that that will be a part of the discussion in the dialogue. But the dialogue is broader than government-to-government issues. It’s a dialogue involving parliamentary representatives. Peter Costello is going as well, for example. Business leaders, social policy leaders, cultural leaders to try and forge greater people-to-people links. LEIGH SALES: Our closest ally, the US, as you say, has made it clear that it expects Israel to not just halt settlements but to reverse some of them in some cases as part of this process towa
