Olmert: Israel Open to Prisoner Exchange

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert lays a wreath during the annual ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial marking Holocaust remembrance day in Jerusalem, Monday, April 16, 2007. Israelis on Monday remembered the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. (AP PhotoYoav Lemmer, Pool) (Yoav Lemmer - AP)

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday he was open to a "reasonable exchange" of Palestinian prisoners in return for a captured soldier but the Palestinians' current demands are too high.

In an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corp. TV, Olmert also said Israel is ready to meet Saudi Arabia over its Mideast peace plan, calling on the Saudis to take the lead in fighting extremism in the Arab world.

The prime minister declined to say how many Palestinians his country would be willing to exchange for Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas-linked militants since June, 2006. But he said "it definitely will not be 1,400," the reported size of the list Israel recently received from Shalit's captors.

Olmert said a reasonable exchange "by Middle Eastern standards" likely would involve more prisoners than Western governments would release for one captured soldier.

In the past, Israel has released hundreds of Palestinians in return for small numbers of its citizens.

Israeli currently holds 9,221 Palestinians, according to the prisons authority.

Olmert has said the release of Shalit remains an obstacle to progress in peace talks with the Palestinians.

Still, Olmert said Israel was willing to talk directly with Saudi Arabia over its 2002 peace plan, recently reissued by the 22-member Arab League.

The proposal offers normal relations to Israel in exchange for its withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, a Palestinian state with a capital in east Jerusalem and a mutually agreed upon resolution over Palestinian refugees. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war.

Olmert termed Saudi Arabia a "key to progress" in the Mideast, saying it must play a central role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He also called on the Saudis to take the lead against Islamic radicalism.

"The time has come for the moderate forces in the Arab world to make a statement of courage and of leadership that will send a message across the Middle East that the days of the extremists are over, and the Saudis can play a major vital role in this direction," Olmert said.