Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking at a special Knesset session today, said that he has instructed the IDF to complete its \"Defensive Shield\" mission before pulling out of areas handed over to the PLO in the framework of the now-defunct Oslo Accords. The United States continues to insist that Israel withdraw without delay, and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan even said today that the \"whole world\" demands the same.
The Israeli Prime Minister stated that after the mission is completed, IDF troops would withdraw to special buffer zones between Israeli and PLO-controlled areas. Sharon\'s speech, which was interrupted numerous times by jeering and yelling by Arab Knesset Members, urged the Palestinian people to seek new leadership in replacement of Arafat\'s terrorist regime. He also praised the Saudi kingdom for its new peace initiative granting recognition to Israel\'s right to live in secure borders, although he emphasized that its exact terms would have to be negotiated between the two parties, and that they could not include the \"right of return\" of former Arab residents of Israel, which would \"effectively terminate the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state.\"
\"We gave many opportunities to world leaders,\" Sharon noted, \"those who promised over and over again that they were capable of stopping terror by means of persuasion or pressure on Arafat... You [world leaders] cannot fight terrorism on the one hand, and condemn the victims of terrorism on the other.\" He also explained the background and goals of the IDF\'s current Operation Defensive Shield. The full text of Sharon\'s dramatic speech can be seen at \"http://www.pmo.gov.il/english/ts.exe?tsurl=0.22.5577.0.0\". More excerpts follow:
\"On the recent evening of the Seder, while I was sitting with my family at the table, I received the terrible news of the massacre in Netanya… And then the sights and sounds come rushing in, the sights of destruction, the cries of the wounded, the sirens. Then the awful silence of the funerals, the faces and human stories which stare at us from the newspapers: the face of Rachel Koren, whose husband and two children were buried on the same day, side by side; a short distance from her, the face of Karmit Ron, forever separated from her husband, 21-year-old daughter, and 17-year-old son; the face of Adi Shiran who was buried while both her parents are unconscious, fighting for their lives in the hospital...
… The murderous gangs have a leader, a purpose, and a directing hand. They have one mission: to chase us out of here, from everywhere - from our home in Elon Moreh and from the supermarket in Jerusalem, from the cafe in Tel Aviv and from the restaurant in Haifa, from the synagogue in Netzarim… And there is one dispatcher: Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. He is the man who, in a series of agreements, promised to abandon the path of terrorism, refrain from committing murder, use his forces to prevent it - and betrayed all his promises. Because of his promises, Israel agreed to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority… We hoped that the Palestinians would understand, as they promised, that ruling does not mean a license to kill, but rather the assumption of responsibility for the prevention of killing.
But what was merely apprehension at the beginning, and intensified into suspicion, has turned into solid facts that nobody can deny. In the territories under his rule, Arafat has established a regime of terror, which nationally and officially trains terrorists and incites, finances, arms and sends them to perpetuate murderous operations across Israel.
…For eighteen months Israel has been under bitter and bloody attack, initiated by our Palestinian neighbors. We have paid a high price in blood, solely because of our honest wish to live in peace with them, and because of our belief that they want the same…
We have made an endless number of efforts to reach a cease-fire: we tried to ease security measures - and each time we lifted a closure, opened a road and withdrew the IDF, we were immediately answered with horrific terrorist attacks; we accepted the Mitchell Plan which includes painful compromises for Israel; we accepted the Tenet Plan; we even waived the most elementary demand for seven days of quiet... but Arafat rejected all his proposals and carried on with his reign of terror.
We remained patient and moderate as one atrocity followed another. Despite the fact that we knew of our power to act, we hoped that we would not be forced to use our forces, and rejected extreme suggestions of all sorts. We gave many opportunities to world leaders, those who promised over and over again that they were capable of stopping terror by means of persuasion or pressure on Arafat.
We have not given up on direct dialogue, to bring about an end to violence. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has left no stone unturned in his efforts to find a partner for dialogue. I have personally hosted several Palestinian Authority officials, and reiterated our proposals for a cease-fire and the resumption of political negotiations.
… However, Arafat chose a different path. We know which path his is. He assumed, and still assumes, that he will be able to defeat Israel and break its spirit. In our sensitivity to the sanctity of human life and in our openness for political debate, he sees basic weakness. By way of blood and horror he wants to force Israel into a unilateral withdrawal to its 1967 borders, including Jerusalem, thereby achieving his aims through violence, and he is not averse to using any means.
The Government of Israel has thus decided to instruct the IDF and other security forces to embark on Operation Defensive Shield, which has one goal: uprooting the terrorist infrastructure which Arafat built to continue attacking us.
IDF soldiers and officers have been given clear orders: to enter cities and villages which have become havens for terrorists; to catch and arrest terrorists and, primarily, their dispatchers and those who finance and support them; to confiscate weapons intended to be used against Israeli citizens; to expose and destroy terrorist facilities and explosives, laboratories, weapons production factories and secret installations. The orders are clear: target and paralyze anyone who takes up weapons and tries to oppose our troops, resists them or endanger them, and to avoid harming the civilian population.
All the aforementioned should have been carried out by the Palestinian Authority, according to its agreements with Israel, and as they were requested to do by all the responsible leaders in the world…
The IDF has achieved great successes... Over 1500 fugitives have been arrested, including over 500 with Israeli blood on their hands. Dozens of terrorist facilities were discovered and destroyed. Terrorist organizations have stopped functioning and their members are on the run. We have foiled terrorist plans and prevented many casualties in the heart of our country.
During these days we are seeing the People of Israel at its best - a proud people whose spirit will not be broken, a people determined to protect its home, while extending its hand in peace. Every day we see new expressions of courage, volunteers and mutual assistance.
…From the outset, this IDF operation was planned be temporary, lasting for the span of time required to complete the actions I described. These actions have not yet been completed, and the IDF will therefore continue to operate, as speedily as possible, until the mission has been accomplished, until Arafat’s terrorist infrastructures are uprooted and until murderers holed up in various places are captured - including those in the Church of Nativity, in Bethlehem, since we have no intention of desecrating the site, unlike the murderers who have commandeered the church and are holding the clergymen hostage. We expect the international community to demand that they lay down their weapons and leave the holy site. Until that time the IDF will remain there to prevent them from escaping justice.
We never intended and do not intend to permanently reoccupy Palestinian cities. After the IDF completes all its missions, it will withdraw... to defined security zones. In my talks with President Bush... I have promised to make every effort to accelerate our military activities, and to withdraw our forces from those places in which our actions have been completed.
In these security zones, our forces will deploy to constitute a buffer between Palestinian territories and our territories, in order to prevent any penetration into Israeli communities, attacks on Israeli citizens, and threats to our security…
But peace can only be attained if, once we evacuate the territories, we find a responsible Palestinian leadership, willing to accept the primary responsibility of every regime - to prevent the use of its territory for the purpose of killing and murdering its neighbors…
I welcome the fact that an important Arab leader such as Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has, for the first time, acknowledged Israel’s right to exist within secure and recognized borders. There is a positive component of the Saudi initiative, but the details must be negotiated between the parties themselves. Peace negotiations cannot be dictated. They must be based on mutual respect and a genuine attempt to reach a compromise. In the absence of open dialogue between the parties, this initiative will remain devoid of any real content... Israel cannot consider the return of Arab refugees - a consequence of a war forced upon Israel by the Arabs - to its territory, as it would effectively terminate the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state.
…From here, I address the Palestinian people… We have no desire to control you or to dictate your fate. We want to live side by side with you in peace, as good neighbors, helping and respecting each other. But in order for this to happen, you can and must take your fate into your own hands. If you want to seize a place of honor among the family of nations, you must eschew terrorism, the murder of children and the elderly, the terrible violence, the murderous hatred and incitement. Do not surrender to those elements among you who have brought you one disaster after another over the past 55 years, because those same forces - they and not us - will guarantee your next disaster.
…From here, I address the leaders of the Free World... You cannot fight terrorism on the one hand, and condemn the victims of terrorism on the other. There is absolutely no equivalence between those who send teenage suicide bombers to kill and maim, and those who take self-defense actions and try to uproot the infrastructure of terrorism. Only your stand against terrorism and actual sanctions against its perpetrators in the Palestinian Authority, and primarily Arafat, will enable you to make a real contribution to the advancement of peace in the Middle East...\"
The Israeli Prime Minister stated that after the mission is completed, IDF troops would withdraw to special buffer zones between Israeli and PLO-controlled areas. Sharon\'s speech, which was interrupted numerous times by jeering and yelling by Arab Knesset Members, urged the Palestinian people to seek new leadership in replacement of Arafat\'s terrorist regime. He also praised the Saudi kingdom for its new peace initiative granting recognition to Israel\'s right to live in secure borders, although he emphasized that its exact terms would have to be negotiated between the two parties, and that they could not include the \"right of return\" of former Arab residents of Israel, which would \"effectively terminate the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state.\"
\"We gave many opportunities to world leaders,\" Sharon noted, \"those who promised over and over again that they were capable of stopping terror by means of persuasion or pressure on Arafat... You [world leaders] cannot fight terrorism on the one hand, and condemn the victims of terrorism on the other.\" He also explained the background and goals of the IDF\'s current Operation Defensive Shield. The full text of Sharon\'s dramatic speech can be seen at \"http://www.pmo.gov.il/english/ts.exe?tsurl=0.22.5577.0.0\". More excerpts follow:
\"On the recent evening of the Seder, while I was sitting with my family at the table, I received the terrible news of the massacre in Netanya… And then the sights and sounds come rushing in, the sights of destruction, the cries of the wounded, the sirens. Then the awful silence of the funerals, the faces and human stories which stare at us from the newspapers: the face of Rachel Koren, whose husband and two children were buried on the same day, side by side; a short distance from her, the face of Karmit Ron, forever separated from her husband, 21-year-old daughter, and 17-year-old son; the face of Adi Shiran who was buried while both her parents are unconscious, fighting for their lives in the hospital...
… The murderous gangs have a leader, a purpose, and a directing hand. They have one mission: to chase us out of here, from everywhere - from our home in Elon Moreh and from the supermarket in Jerusalem, from the cafe in Tel Aviv and from the restaurant in Haifa, from the synagogue in Netzarim… And there is one dispatcher: Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. He is the man who, in a series of agreements, promised to abandon the path of terrorism, refrain from committing murder, use his forces to prevent it - and betrayed all his promises. Because of his promises, Israel agreed to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority… We hoped that the Palestinians would understand, as they promised, that ruling does not mean a license to kill, but rather the assumption of responsibility for the prevention of killing.
But what was merely apprehension at the beginning, and intensified into suspicion, has turned into solid facts that nobody can deny. In the territories under his rule, Arafat has established a regime of terror, which nationally and officially trains terrorists and incites, finances, arms and sends them to perpetuate murderous operations across Israel.
…For eighteen months Israel has been under bitter and bloody attack, initiated by our Palestinian neighbors. We have paid a high price in blood, solely because of our honest wish to live in peace with them, and because of our belief that they want the same…
We have made an endless number of efforts to reach a cease-fire: we tried to ease security measures - and each time we lifted a closure, opened a road and withdrew the IDF, we were immediately answered with horrific terrorist attacks; we accepted the Mitchell Plan which includes painful compromises for Israel; we accepted the Tenet Plan; we even waived the most elementary demand for seven days of quiet... but Arafat rejected all his proposals and carried on with his reign of terror.
We remained patient and moderate as one atrocity followed another. Despite the fact that we knew of our power to act, we hoped that we would not be forced to use our forces, and rejected extreme suggestions of all sorts. We gave many opportunities to world leaders, those who promised over and over again that they were capable of stopping terror by means of persuasion or pressure on Arafat.
We have not given up on direct dialogue, to bring about an end to violence. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has left no stone unturned in his efforts to find a partner for dialogue. I have personally hosted several Palestinian Authority officials, and reiterated our proposals for a cease-fire and the resumption of political negotiations.
… However, Arafat chose a different path. We know which path his is. He assumed, and still assumes, that he will be able to defeat Israel and break its spirit. In our sensitivity to the sanctity of human life and in our openness for political debate, he sees basic weakness. By way of blood and horror he wants to force Israel into a unilateral withdrawal to its 1967 borders, including Jerusalem, thereby achieving his aims through violence, and he is not averse to using any means.
The Government of Israel has thus decided to instruct the IDF and other security forces to embark on Operation Defensive Shield, which has one goal: uprooting the terrorist infrastructure which Arafat built to continue attacking us.
IDF soldiers and officers have been given clear orders: to enter cities and villages which have become havens for terrorists; to catch and arrest terrorists and, primarily, their dispatchers and those who finance and support them; to confiscate weapons intended to be used against Israeli citizens; to expose and destroy terrorist facilities and explosives, laboratories, weapons production factories and secret installations. The orders are clear: target and paralyze anyone who takes up weapons and tries to oppose our troops, resists them or endanger them, and to avoid harming the civilian population.
All the aforementioned should have been carried out by the Palestinian Authority, according to its agreements with Israel, and as they were requested to do by all the responsible leaders in the world…
The IDF has achieved great successes... Over 1500 fugitives have been arrested, including over 500 with Israeli blood on their hands. Dozens of terrorist facilities were discovered and destroyed. Terrorist organizations have stopped functioning and their members are on the run. We have foiled terrorist plans and prevented many casualties in the heart of our country.
During these days we are seeing the People of Israel at its best - a proud people whose spirit will not be broken, a people determined to protect its home, while extending its hand in peace. Every day we see new expressions of courage, volunteers and mutual assistance.
…From the outset, this IDF operation was planned be temporary, lasting for the span of time required to complete the actions I described. These actions have not yet been completed, and the IDF will therefore continue to operate, as speedily as possible, until the mission has been accomplished, until Arafat’s terrorist infrastructures are uprooted and until murderers holed up in various places are captured - including those in the Church of Nativity, in Bethlehem, since we have no intention of desecrating the site, unlike the murderers who have commandeered the church and are holding the clergymen hostage. We expect the international community to demand that they lay down their weapons and leave the holy site. Until that time the IDF will remain there to prevent them from escaping justice.
We never intended and do not intend to permanently reoccupy Palestinian cities. After the IDF completes all its missions, it will withdraw... to defined security zones. In my talks with President Bush... I have promised to make every effort to accelerate our military activities, and to withdraw our forces from those places in which our actions have been completed.
In these security zones, our forces will deploy to constitute a buffer between Palestinian territories and our territories, in order to prevent any penetration into Israeli communities, attacks on Israeli citizens, and threats to our security…
But peace can only be attained if, once we evacuate the territories, we find a responsible Palestinian leadership, willing to accept the primary responsibility of every regime - to prevent the use of its territory for the purpose of killing and murdering its neighbors…
I welcome the fact that an important Arab leader such as Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has, for the first time, acknowledged Israel’s right to exist within secure and recognized borders. There is a positive component of the Saudi initiative, but the details must be negotiated between the parties themselves. Peace negotiations cannot be dictated. They must be based on mutual respect and a genuine attempt to reach a compromise. In the absence of open dialogue between the parties, this initiative will remain devoid of any real content... Israel cannot consider the return of Arab refugees - a consequence of a war forced upon Israel by the Arabs - to its territory, as it would effectively terminate the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish state.
…From here, I address the Palestinian people… We have no desire to control you or to dictate your fate. We want to live side by side with you in peace, as good neighbors, helping and respecting each other. But in order for this to happen, you can and must take your fate into your own hands. If you want to seize a place of honor among the family of nations, you must eschew terrorism, the murder of children and the elderly, the terrible violence, the murderous hatred and incitement. Do not surrender to those elements among you who have brought you one disaster after another over the past 55 years, because those same forces - they and not us - will guarantee your next disaster.
…From here, I address the leaders of the Free World... You cannot fight terrorism on the one hand, and condemn the victims of terrorism on the other. There is absolutely no equivalence between those who send teenage suicide bombers to kill and maim, and those who take self-defense actions and try to uproot the infrastructure of terrorism. Only your stand against terrorism and actual sanctions against its perpetrators in the Palestinian Authority, and primarily Arafat, will enable you to make a real contribution to the advancement of peace in the Middle East...\"