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--Tony Blair battled to quell the Labour revolt over his Lebanon policy yesterday by saying he had not given a green light to Israel's military operations, and insisting he was only interested in securing a long-term settlement that must also encompass a Palestinian state.
He also suggested he would personally lead a drive to re-energise the Palestinian peace process in September, claiming he would regard it as a personal failure of his leadership if he could not help negotiate a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
Mr Blair's hour-long exposition of his policy at a Downing Street press conference came after a cabinet and backbench revolt in the wake of the conflict in Lebanon and his own five-day absence in California. His remarks did not satisfy his most vocal critics, but cabinet members denied any coordinated revolt was being organised."It is not surprising to me that there are people who profoundly disagree with the policy," Mr Blair said. "Or that there is anxiety amongst members of the cabinet; members of the parliamentary Labour party; people in the country. This is a very difficult situation."
Mr Blair gave his strongest criticism of Israel's bombing campaign, describing it as "unacceptable", but he refused to describe it as disproportionate.--
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,1837149,00.htmlBlair also said the Arab and Muslim belief that the UK is not fair in the I/P conflict is a bigger issue than the UK's stance on the current crisis and for the first time said the UK may have to begin talking to Hamas.