Q Tony, thanks. You haven't said much about Israel and the Palestinians lately. Have you given up on any Palestinian state in the foreseeable future? And is the U.S. still giving humanitarian aid to the Palestinians?
MR. SNOW: I'll double-check. I think we still are. But, no, we're committed to a Palestinian state. We think that it's absolutely essential that you have democratic states -- Palestinian and Israel -- standing side by side.
But on the other hand, you still have the fundamental preconditions for that Palestinian state, which is that you have to acknowledge Israel's right to exist, you have to renounce terror, and you have to abide by prior treaty obligations. We continue hoping that Prime Minister Abbas -- or President Abbas is going to be able to have a government organized that will be able to pursue those goals. And we've also noted, the President has noted that at a time -- it was kind of curious where they seemed to be getting closer to working out something with the Olmert government, you had the kidnapping of two different Israel soldiers, one in Gaza and one in Lebanon. So those are sources of concern, but we remain committed to those goals.
Q And on Lebanon, the Hezbollah leader said that there are some U.N.-mediated talks underway possibly to free the two Israeli soldiers. Is the U.S. involved in this at all?
MR. SNOW: Not that I'm aware of, but I don't know.
Q I want to take you back to your Lebanon statement here. You said that there was mounting evidence that the Syrian and Iranian governments and Hezbollah and their allies are trying to topple the government. But the rest of the statement doesn't describe what that evidence is. The only thing it goes on to describe is an effort to stop formal approval of the statute on the international tribunal, which is quite different than toppling a government.
MR. SNOW: That is correct. And, David, as somebody who at least I think spends a fair amount of time talking to people who handle classified information, you will understand why we do not necessarily go into greater detail about those. It serves a diplomatic purpose, and an important one.
Q I can understand that, but at the same time, you're making a fairly serious charge that two governments are seeking to overturn the government of a neighbor. And it would seem to me that that would require at least some characterization of the evidence in declassified form. Could you tell us any more about it?
MR. SNOW: No, but thanks for the advice. We'll pass it on.
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(MFL: what about all those Breaches from Israel's side on behalf of Lebanon and how would the United States react if someone bombed Israel the way Israel bombed Lebanon and continues to kill Palestinians on daily basis?)
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