Israel is of course interested in widening its official diplomatic relations with as many countries as possible and especially Muslim countries.

Israel salutes the United States, which has proven once again that it will fight the scourge of terrorism which, as last week's bombings in east Africa have shown, endanger the entire free world.

The way an embassy is constructed, the way people can get to the embassy, what construction materials are used ... all those things have to be taken into account, without any doubt. And just repeat three times: vigilance, vigilance, vigilance.

Let's make an arrangement where Israelis can be sure that [Palestinians] live up to all these agreements with regard to fighting terrorism, security and arms and the Palestinian covenant. They'll be surprised how generous we can be.

Now they want to say, 'What the previous administration put on the table, OK, we take that and let's start and have further demands and have further concessions from Israel,' ... That's not the way to do business.

I would not say this is a sign of great openness. It's more like establishing diplomatic relations between two countries, rather than opening borders.