Today, once again, Israel\'s media featured a diplomatic plan apparently cooked up by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the PA\'s Abu Ala. The plan calls for the establishment of a PLO state on the 42% of Yesha that the PA currently controls, after a ceasefire of 6-8 weeks, to be followed by two years of final status negotiations. In response, at least two government ministers - Benny Elon and Tzachi HaNegbi - demand an end to Peres\' tenure in the government. Minister Elon told Arutz-7 this morning that the government\'s policy forbids negotiations with the PA under fire, and that Prime Minister Sharon promised a number of times that the matter of a Palestinian state would be brought before the Cabinet before any negotiations. \"Peres is acting against these two principles,\" Elon said, \"and he must therefore be fired.\" HaNegbi called on Peres to resign of his own accord.
Others say, however, that Sharon is the \"guilty\" party in this concoction, and that he knew of Peres\' talks. MK Michael Kleiner (Herut) said, \"The right-wing ministers should stop laying the blame on Peres, as Ariel Sharon himself came out in favor of a Palestinian state.\" Housing Minister Natan Sharansky said, \"This new plan is dangerous, and Sharon must stop it at once. If it is implemented, it will be another scene in the Oslo deception process... They’re making the same mistake again - trying to turn Arafat from a terrorist into a statesman.\"
In response to Peres\' secret diplomatic plan, and reports that Prime Minister Sharon approved the talks, Sharon\'s office released an official statement dismissing both out of hand. \"The very raising of such a proposal is critically harmful to Israel,\" the statement said. \"The entire government decided that there would be no negotiations with the Palestinian Authority before wanted terrorists and their aides were arrested, illegal weapons were collected, and the terrorist infrastructures were dismantled.\"
The Yesha Council issued a statement saying that the only way for Sharon to dispel suspicions that he was a party to the plan would be for him to fire Peres.
Women in Green protested in Jerusalem against talk of a PLO state this morning and amassed signatures on petitions in Zion Square. WiG co-founder Nadia Matar said that the organization plans to reach all cities and sites where there have been terrorist attacks and garner support for their cause, \"one each week. The public is enthusiastic and supports us. Next week, we will be in Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv.\" Twenty-two people were killed in the #5 bus attack on Dizengoff St. in October 1994, and 13 more were murdered by a suicide terrorist there in March 1996.
Others say, however, that Sharon is the \"guilty\" party in this concoction, and that he knew of Peres\' talks. MK Michael Kleiner (Herut) said, \"The right-wing ministers should stop laying the blame on Peres, as Ariel Sharon himself came out in favor of a Palestinian state.\" Housing Minister Natan Sharansky said, \"This new plan is dangerous, and Sharon must stop it at once. If it is implemented, it will be another scene in the Oslo deception process... They’re making the same mistake again - trying to turn Arafat from a terrorist into a statesman.\"
In response to Peres\' secret diplomatic plan, and reports that Prime Minister Sharon approved the talks, Sharon\'s office released an official statement dismissing both out of hand. \"The very raising of such a proposal is critically harmful to Israel,\" the statement said. \"The entire government decided that there would be no negotiations with the Palestinian Authority before wanted terrorists and their aides were arrested, illegal weapons were collected, and the terrorist infrastructures were dismantled.\"
The Yesha Council issued a statement saying that the only way for Sharon to dispel suspicions that he was a party to the plan would be for him to fire Peres.
Women in Green protested in Jerusalem against talk of a PLO state this morning and amassed signatures on petitions in Zion Square. WiG co-founder Nadia Matar said that the organization plans to reach all cities and sites where there have been terrorist attacks and garner support for their cause, \"one each week. The public is enthusiastic and supports us. Next week, we will be in Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv.\" Twenty-two people were killed in the #5 bus attack on Dizengoff St. in October 1994, and 13 more were murdered by a suicide terrorist there in March 1996.