Olmert Visits Japan; Seeks More Trade And Offers Larger Peace Role

TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Olmert will seek to boost trade with Japan during a visit to Tokyo this week while holding out the opportunity for his hosts to play a more prominent role in Middle East peacemaking.

Mr. Olmert, accompanied by 25 Israeli business executives, arrives today in Tokyo for the first trip to Japan by an Israeli prime minister since Benjamin Netanyahu visited in 1997. Besides meetings with Prime Minister Fukuda and Emperor Akihito, Mr. Olmert also will get together with American Secretary of State Rice when they cross paths during his four days in the Japanese capital, his office said.

Mr. Olmert wants to promote Israeli technology, defense, and diamond exports to narrow Japan's $1.1 billion 2007 trade surplus with his nation. Japan wants to help to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which would promote stability in the oil-rich Middle East, a Hebrew University expert on Israeli-Japanese relations, Ehud Harari, said.

"Japan is always trying to raise its political profile in nonmilitary world leadership," Mr. Harari said. "Playing a larger role in making peace between Israelis and Palestinians would be a big score."

Japan was rebuffed when it sought an independent berth in the international peacekeeping body known as the Middle East "Quartet," which includes America, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations, Mr. Harari said.

Japan has invested $900 million during the past 15 years to help the Palestinian Authority develop its governing structures and economy, according to the Japanese Embassy in Tel Aviv. It pledged an additional $150 million at a December meeting of donor countries in Paris.