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The foreign ministers discussed the situation in Lebanon and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the need to release the hostages, and the Iranian issue.

Statements to the press by FM Tzipi Livni and Spanish FM Miguel Moratinos following their meeting in Jerusalem

FM Livni: I want to welcome the Miguel Angel Moratinos, the Spanish Foreign Minister, to Israel. This is just a few weeks after Resolution 1701 was adopted by the Security Council. At the beginning, we were somewhat skeptical as to whether the international community would demontrate determination on this issue in comparison to other Security Council resolutions which refer to Lebanon, like 1659. We believe that this time, there is a need for the international community to show determination, in order to change the situation in Lebanon, for the benefit of the Lebanese and the Israelis, and for the region. There is no conflict between Israel and Lebanon. Both Israel and Lebanon need a Lebanese state which can exercises its sovereignty on the entire place.

We appreciate the fact that Spain has also sent soldiers to the international force, even though it was not an Israeli request, because the idea of the international force is not to defend Israel but to help the Lebanese to make the changes which are needed.

Foreign Minister Moratinos and I discussed in our meeting the situation in Lebanon and the situation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We spoke about the hostages, and the need to release the hostages who are being held in Lebanon and by the Hamas in the Palestinian Authority. We also discussed the Iranian issue - a never ending problem in this region - but I hope that we can face a better future.

FM Moratinos: Let me first thank you for the warm welcome and as always the traditional hospitality of my Israeli friends. By the way, today is the fifth anniversary of 9/11, and I remember five years ago, that I was here, in Israel, when this was very critical tragedy took place. So I want to pay tribute to what happened in New York, and also to say that the fight against terror is absolutely a commitment of the international community. It is absolutely one of the main objectives of the Spanish government and, of course, of the international community.

In this sense, we have all been behind Israel - the Israeli people, the Israeli society, the Israeli government - to defeat terror, to defend Israel. For that reason, when this crisis started, we immediately said that it was the Hizbullah that caused the crisis. Now we must look for what has to be done in order to stabilize the situation and to secure Israel from any kind of attack.

To this end, I informed the Israeli Foreign Minister of the Spanish commitment to be a very engaged part on the reinforced UNIFIL mission. The Spanish troops will be deployed very soon and they will have a clear mandate to implement fully all the elements and all the aspects of 1701. Here, one of the main challenges will be to guarantee the arms embargo. We will do this with all our determination, efficiency and professionalism.

I want to express my appreciation for the Israeli government in all of what has been a very difficult time. I know that you are making a tremendous effort for the release of your soldiers and I think that you should send a very clear message that these soldiers - both the two captured by the Hizbullah and the one captured by the Hamas - have to be released immediately. We will work to try and help send this message to all parties concerned.

The Israeli government is also very active in reviving the spirit of political understanding and giving a chance for peace. We hope, as Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said, that there will be some movement on the Palestinian side that will help us to really engage in a different manner and that the Lebanese situation will stabilize in order that we can move forward and to give much more hope for the people of the region and of course, for the people of Israel.

So, I want to thank the Israeli government for the productive discussion that I had with the Prime Minister and with the Foreign Minister. I have several other meetings scheduled, and you can be sure that Spain, and the Spanish government, is a friend of Israel, and we will work together and we will try to facilitate a durable and a lasting peace for the region.