JERUSALEM, April 13 (JTA) — Israel has welcomed the historic peace agreement for Northern Ireland. Calling the pact reached last Friday a “breakthrough,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the agreement would hopefully end decades of bloodshed and terror in which “thousands of innocent people lost their lives.” The agreement, brokered by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, calls for power sharing between the region’s Protestant majority and Catholic minority and for increased ties with the Republic of Ireland to the south. Israeli peace activists hailed the accord, saying it should serve as inspiration for the deadlocked Middle East peace process. Meretz Party leader Yossi Sarid pointed to the extensive mediation efforts of the Unites States, which has also been pressing Israel and the Palestinian Authority to break their stalemated negotiations. “This proves that the role of the United States in making peace is indispensable,” Sarid said. Meanwhile, Yitzhak Shamir, the former Likud Party prime minister, said the accord provided hope that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could also be resolved.
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