Writing for the Wall Street Journal on Monday, ex-CIA Director James Woolsey ripped apart Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan, which, he says, represents a determination to reinforce failure.
Woolsey sums up Olmert's plan as follows: "The withdrawal of 50,000 to 100,000 Israeli settlers from 90% to 95% of the West Bank and major portions of Jerusalem," together with a redeployment of the IDF near the security fence currently under construction.
He objects to the plan for the following reasons:
Israeli concessions indeed enhance Palestinian hope, Woolsey writes, "but not of a reasonable two-state solution--rather a hope that they will actually be able to destroy Israel... When they speak of "ending Israeli occupation" they mean of Tel Aviv."
He adds that a "two-state solution can become a reality when the Palestinians are held to the same standards as Israelis - to the requirement that Jewish settlers in a West Bank-Gaza Palestinian state would be treated with the same decency that Israel treats its Arab citizens. Until then, three failures in 13 years should permit us to evaluate the wisdom of further concessions."
Woolsey bases much of his opposition to Olmert's plan on the failure of last year's Gaza withdrawal. Among the "worst set of results imaginable" that it produced, he lists the following:
* A heavy presence by Al Qaeda, Hizbullah, and even some Iranian Revolutionary Guard units;
* street fighting between Hamas and Fatah, and now Hamas assassination attempts against Fatah's intelligence chief and Jordan's ambassador;
* rocket and mortar attacks against nearby towns inside Israel;
* and a perceived vindication for Hamas, which took credit for the withdrawal and thus helped Hamas's victory in the Palestinian Authority elections.
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Woolsey sums up Olmert's plan as follows: "The withdrawal of 50,000 to 100,000 Israeli settlers from 90% to 95% of the West Bank and major portions of Jerusalem," together with a redeployment of the IDF near the security fence currently under construction.
He objects to the plan for the following reasons:
- This approach was tried in Gaza and has failed utterly, "producing the worst set of results imaginable."
- Creating a West Bank that looks like today's Gaza would be many times worse, including rockets and shelling into virtually all of Israel.
- Not only Israel, but also moderate Jordan, would be threatened by a terrorist state.
- Israeli concessions make the U.S. look weak, and suggest that the U.S. is fleeing from terrorism once again instead of fighting it.
- Three Israeli attempts at accommodation with the Arabs - Oslo, Lebanon, and Gaza - have failed in the past 13 years because they were based on the premise that only Israeli concessions can displace Palestinian despair. "But it seems increasingly clear that the Palestinian cause is fueled by hatred and contempt."
Israeli concessions indeed enhance Palestinian hope, Woolsey writes, "but not of a reasonable two-state solution--rather a hope that they will actually be able to destroy Israel... When they speak of "ending Israeli occupation" they mean of Tel Aviv."
He adds that a "two-state solution can become a reality when the Palestinians are held to the same standards as Israelis - to the requirement that Jewish settlers in a West Bank-Gaza Palestinian state would be treated with the same decency that Israel treats its Arab citizens. Until then, three failures in 13 years should permit us to evaluate the wisdom of further concessions."
Woolsey bases much of his opposition to Olmert's plan on the failure of last year's Gaza withdrawal. Among the "worst set of results imaginable" that it produced, he lists the following:
* A heavy presence by Al Qaeda, Hizbullah, and even some Iranian Revolutionary Guard units;
* street fighting between Hamas and Fatah, and now Hamas assassination attempts against Fatah's intelligence chief and Jordan's ambassador;
* rocket and mortar attacks against nearby towns inside Israel;
* and a perceived vindication for Hamas, which took credit for the withdrawal and thus helped Hamas's victory in the Palestinian Authority elections.
Click here to read the full article.