Blair to Congress: Mideast Peace Key to Winning War on Terror.

By Israel Faxx News Services British Prime Minister Tony Blair told Congress on Thursday that the war on terror would not be won without peace between Israel and the Palestinians. "There is one cause terrorism rides upon, a cause they have no belief in but can manipulate," he said. "I want to

be very plain: This terrorism will not be defeated without peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine." In the first address to Congress by a British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in 1985, Blair said that the entire Arab world must recognize the State of Israel, and end incitement against both Israel and Jews. "Here it is that the poison is incubated. Here it is that the extremist is able to confuse in the mind of a frighteningly large number of people the case for a Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel, and to translate this moreover into a battle between East and West, Muslim, Jew and Christian.

"May this never compromise the security of the State of Israel. The State of Israel should be recognized by the entire Arab world, and the vile propaganda used to indoctrinate children, not just against Israel but against Jews, must

cease. You cannot teach people hate and then ask them to practice peace. But neither can you teach people peace except by according them dignity and granting them hope. Innocent Israelis suffer. So do innocent Palestinians."

Blair entered the House chamber to a standing ovation of lawmakers, senior Bush administration officials and American military brass. The prime minister wryly thanked his audience for a "warm and generous welcome that's more than I deserve, and it's more than I'm used to, quite frankly." That was a reference to domestic British politics. Before the war, Blair drew stronger opposition in the House of Commons to military action than Bush did in Congress. And like Bush, he has been hit hard by post-war controversy over questionable intelligence about Saddam Hussein's nuclear aims.