JEDDAH, 9 August 2006 — Singapore’s Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong described the Lebanon conflict as a horrible and tragic event for innocent civilians in Lebanon. “It is a tragedy for Lebanon that so much property and infrastructure are being bombed by the Israelis,” he said. He went on to say that there was little point in wringing hands in sympathy with the Lebanese; what was needed is a long-term solution that would guarantee peace in the long run.
Goh made his remarks to a group of journalists from the Middle East in his office in Singapore last week. The mediapersons were there as part of an initiative to improve relations between the island state and the Middle East.
The senior minister and former prime minister said there should be an immediate cease-fire by both Israel and Lebanon. “Get the friends of both involved in order to calm things down,” he suggested.
Goh said there should be a serious look at the road map. He called for Palestinians and Hezbollah to recognize Israel’s right to exist. “That’s important because if others don’t recognize Israel’s existence, then what is there for Israel to do other than fight and destroy you?” he asked. Goh then added, “Israel also must recognize the rights of others.”
He commented that he had been shocked that Hezbollah had something like 13,000 missiles which were not under the control of the Lebanese government. From the Israeli point of view, he said, Hezbollah wants to destroy all of Israel and its people. “Therefore, Israel says if that is your aim, I must disarm you, and this is in fact its motive.”
Goh pointed out that Hezbollah had made the wrong decision by testing the new Israeli prime minister (Ehud Olmert). “When two soldiers are kidnapped, a new prime minister must not show weakness; that is basic politics.”
Regarding the possibility of the conflict expanding within the region, he said: “I’m hopeful that it will not because I don’t think anybody wants it to expand. The Americans don’t want an expansion because Washington has enough problems in Iraq and America would be vital to Israeli success if the war were expanded. Israel, on its own, will not expand to involve Iran and Syria. That would be very risky.”
Asked if Hezbollah were fighting a war on behalf of Iran, he said: “I think it is in part a war on behalf of Iran.” Goh said that he would have thought the Iranians were longer-term thinkers. They are not only thinking about the next step, which could be to distract the world from its nuclear ambitions. “They are long-term thinkers which involves the Shiites in Iraq and Shiites in Hezbollah and, of course, how do you wipe out Israel?”
He said that the involvement of Iran in the current situation was only speculation. There are many theories, he said and added, “But I do have reports that some Iranian Revolutionary Guards have been killed among Hezbollah fighters. What are they doing there? Are they supplying missiles to Hezbollah?”
Singapore, he said, cannot play a role in the current Middle East problem because the conflict is too big; it is for the big countries to settle it in the United Nations, he said. “We would be happy to express a view on the conflict based on principles and we have done so. We aim to be even-handed,” he said. “We don’t take the side of Israel or the Palestinians; we look at the problem as outsiders and we express our view of a particular problem. It is a kind of principled role which we hope we can play in the United Nations. We must always argue from the basis of justice, equality, fairness,” he added.
Regarding Saudi-Singapore bilateral relations, he said: “There’s enough common ground for us to build a good relationship. I first visited Saudi Arabia more than two years ago and I was surprised at the development. Before I went, I did not know that the cities were so well-planned and the businessmen were so sophisticated. That made a very positive impression on me.”
From the economic side, he said: “We’re hoping that we can attract more Saudi business to invest in Singapore.” He pointed out that Singapore was moving into Islamic banking. “We must provide Islamic products for Saudis who only invest in Islamic products. We are working on that and we hope we can serve the Saudis who prefer Islamic products for their investments.”
“We hope that beyond trade, some of our business people will see opportunities in Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that Singapore’s strength was in infrastructure development, town planning and consultancy services.
“We hope to make these available to Saudi Arabia. When he visited us, Crown Prince Sultan was interested in involving Singapore in the King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh. I believe our people are taking a look to see where and how in the city their expertise and knowledge can be used.”