If the Referendum Law to which the Knesset gave a positive push on Wednesday were in place a few years ago, the Gush Katif expulsion (Disengagement) could have been averted, Minister of National Infrastructures Uzi Landau said.
"I dealt with this law as far back as ten years ago,” he told Arutz Sheva, “during the Oslo period and before it. This is an extremely important law that says something very simple: Any far-reaching decision regarding a change of sovereignty in the State of Israel, if G-d forbid it is made, needs to be taken with an overwhelming majority of the nation and the pubic, without conspiracies and without perks that the government can hand out to Knesset Members in order to get them to support it.”
Landau was hinting at alleged shady deals made by the Sharon government to win a majority for the Disengagement, as well as similar maneuvers made by the Rabin government to get the Knesset to accept the Oslo Accords.
Asked by Arutz Sheva's Chizki Ezra if the law could have avoided the Disengagement, he said, “I have no doubt that if a law of of this kind had existed, the Disengagement could have been avoided. The answer is yes.”
Landau disagreed with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who said that the law could send a negative message to Syria. "In order to bring about peace with the Syrians, we must not hand over a millimeter in the Golan,” he explained. “Do not forget: there is no mercy for the weak in the Middle East. The Syrians need to understand that for any 'adventure' they embark upon in our direction, they will pay a heavy price. Israel has the power of deterrence vis-a-vis Syria when we are on the Golan, not when we are underneath it [at the pre-1967 lines]. Therefore the Golan is the security and the guarantee that there will not be a war.”