President Shimon Peres responded to the speech given by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland on Thursday, saying that "the most significant remarks were the ones he didn't make."
Peres, who is scheduled to receive the Spirit of Davos Award in recognition of his contribution to the cause of peace, economics and technology at the Davos forum on Friday, said that Rouhani "didn't express support for peace in the Middle East. He is the only leader I know who didn't say clearly the time has come to make peace between Israel and the Arabs. He excluded the reference to peace and when he was asked if his vision included all countries he said it included only the ones that Iran will accept, that is some definition."
The president added that "as far as Israel is concerned we are ready to make peace with the Iranian people, historically they have never been our enemies. We extend our hand for peace, including to the Iranian people, but today was a great occasion that was missed."