JERUSALEM: Actor Richard Gere told Israel’s foreign minister on April 7 that Palestinians and Israelis must put the past behind them and take advantage of what he called a “special moment” to make peace.

Gere met with foreign minister Silvan Shalom during his third visit to the region in recent months. “There is a great instinct and need on both sides to find a peaceful solution that is suitable, that is genuine, that is real, and it can be found and this is a moment,” said Gere. Since his arrival days ago, Gere met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israel’s two vice-premiers, Shimon Peres and Ehud Olmert. — AP