May 3, 2006 11:09 pm US/Central
Daley Meets With Israeli Dignitaries
by Jay Levine
JERUSALEM (CBS) ―
Mayor Daley is on the next leg of his trip to the Middle East after three days in Jordan.
The mayor is in Israel now, visiting the sites and meeting with dignitaries in Jerusalem.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine spoke exclusively to the president of Israel and his deputy, Shimon Peres.
Thousands of miles from Chicago, the mayor still has clout.
The mayor was rushed to the head of a receiving line hundreds of yards long to greet Israel's first lady and President Moshe Katsav.
But Daley got an especially warm welcome from an old friend, Shimon Peres, the dean of Israeli politicians who'd visited Chicago many times.
At the following ceremony, he listened to an Independence Day speech on Israel's continuing struggle for security.
"Israel fights to prevent bloodshed and terrorism," Katsav said.
In some ways, the battle is over control of territory dear to three major religions.
At the legendary Western Wall, where Jews come from all over the world to pray, Mayor Daley followed tradition Wednesday morning by tucking pieces of papers between its stones.
"On behalf of my parents, my sister, Ellie, and, of course, my son, Kevin. Also, a prayer for Israel, a prayer for the United States, and a prayer for peace," Daley said.
The mayor, his wife and daughter, all devout Catholics, then traced the Stations of the Cross and prayed at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site of Jesus' crucifixion.
He did not visit the holy Muslim mosques. And rather than avoiding controversy, he may have created one by not meeting with Palestinians on the West Bank, which is now partially sealed off by a 20-foot-tall security fence aimed at keeping suicide bombers out of Israel.
"Might Palestinians in Chicago perceive your coming to Israel, and not the place where they, where there hearts are, a slight to them?" Levine asked the mayor.
Daley replied: "No, I don't think so because we have Palestinians in our delegation to Jordan, we visited with Palestinians and Jordanians. No, it's not at all, whatsoever."
Sources say Daley did want to visit the West Bank but was talked out of it by the state department, which cited security concerns and newly elected leaders still calling for the destruction of Israel.
Speaking with CBS 2 Wednesday night, Shimon Peres seemed to say he wouldn't have objected to all contact.
"We don't prevent anybody from meeting the people who are not belonging to Hamas, who don't partake in the acts of violence. We are not against the Palestinian people. We are against terrorists, even if they are Palestinians," Peres said.
But President Katsav told CBS 2 that he, too, would advise against meeting with certain leaders.
"The new Palestinian government, the Hamas government, announced that they support bloodshed and terrorism. I don't think there is any possibility to meet them," Katsav said.
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