\"The Labor Party is in deep trouble,\" said MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union) today, \"and that\'s why they have to come up with new plans - gimmicks, really...\" Hendel was referring to the new diplomatic plans unveiled late last week by Labor leader Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, challenger MK Chaim Ramon, and - today - by Foreign Minister Peres.
Ben-Eliezer\'s plan includes a war on terrorism, physical separation from the PA areas, and a final-status agreement. Ben-Eliezer offers a Palestinian state in most of the areas liberated in 1967, the evacuation of many Yesha settlements, a division of Jerusalem, and an international regime to \"supervise\" the Temple Mount. Ramon ridiculed this offer, saying that there was no one with whom to make this agreement, and proposed instead a unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres waited until today to publicize his plan, which includes the centralization of Palestinian security forces, the establishment of a Palestinian state over the areas now controlled by the PA, and further negotiations over a final-status agreement. Peres also favors the participation in the negotiations of the U.S., the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations, who would also \"back\" whatever agreement is reached.
MK Collette Avital (Labor) said that she personally favors Ben-Eliezer\'s plan, \"although Peres\' ideas supplement his in some ways. All of them share the idea that it is hard to trust Arafat today...\" Speaking with Arutz-7 today, she justified the various plans by saying that the \"only way to extricate ourselves from this situation is to suggest some sort of solution.\" MK Hendel, however, disagreed:
\"All the Labor ideas are just gimmicks. The Laborites are in great trouble, because they put all their money on Oslo as if it were some kind of religious tenet and as if the State of Israel was created only in order to fulfill Oslo - and then suddenly the whole thing falls apart in front of their eyes. The party\'s relevance thus comes into major question. That\'s why they have to come up with something in order to justify their existence... Chaim Ramon says, \'Let\'s run away from Yesha, because we have no partner\' - at least he finally admits that. \'Oh, they\'ll bombard us from over the fences? That\'s OK, we\'ll deal with that later…\' Then Peres comes and says he still believes in Arafat, because \'with all sorts of pressure from the U.S. and Europe, he\'ll have to be nice to us, and they will give us guarantees...\' [And I ask,] What kind of guarantees? - That if [the PA] attacks us, like they are doing now, all of a sudden Europe will give us a green light to fight back?! … Obviously these proposals are only gimmicks, and it\'s too bad that the Israeli media are giving them so much play.\"
\"There is only one option,\" concluded Hendel, \"and that is to liquidate terrorism with force. There is nothing else. I will remind the listeners that once upon a time there used to be plane hijackings, but Israel taught the world that hijackers must not be negotiated with - until finally this plague was eliminated, and now it\'s been many years and there have been no hijackings. Terrorism is not negotiable!\"
Ben-Eliezer\'s plan includes a war on terrorism, physical separation from the PA areas, and a final-status agreement. Ben-Eliezer offers a Palestinian state in most of the areas liberated in 1967, the evacuation of many Yesha settlements, a division of Jerusalem, and an international regime to \"supervise\" the Temple Mount. Ramon ridiculed this offer, saying that there was no one with whom to make this agreement, and proposed instead a unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres waited until today to publicize his plan, which includes the centralization of Palestinian security forces, the establishment of a Palestinian state over the areas now controlled by the PA, and further negotiations over a final-status agreement. Peres also favors the participation in the negotiations of the U.S., the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations, who would also \"back\" whatever agreement is reached.
MK Collette Avital (Labor) said that she personally favors Ben-Eliezer\'s plan, \"although Peres\' ideas supplement his in some ways. All of them share the idea that it is hard to trust Arafat today...\" Speaking with Arutz-7 today, she justified the various plans by saying that the \"only way to extricate ourselves from this situation is to suggest some sort of solution.\" MK Hendel, however, disagreed:
\"All the Labor ideas are just gimmicks. The Laborites are in great trouble, because they put all their money on Oslo as if it were some kind of religious tenet and as if the State of Israel was created only in order to fulfill Oslo - and then suddenly the whole thing falls apart in front of their eyes. The party\'s relevance thus comes into major question. That\'s why they have to come up with something in order to justify their existence... Chaim Ramon says, \'Let\'s run away from Yesha, because we have no partner\' - at least he finally admits that. \'Oh, they\'ll bombard us from over the fences? That\'s OK, we\'ll deal with that later…\' Then Peres comes and says he still believes in Arafat, because \'with all sorts of pressure from the U.S. and Europe, he\'ll have to be nice to us, and they will give us guarantees...\' [And I ask,] What kind of guarantees? - That if [the PA] attacks us, like they are doing now, all of a sudden Europe will give us a green light to fight back?! … Obviously these proposals are only gimmicks, and it\'s too bad that the Israeli media are giving them so much play.\"
\"There is only one option,\" concluded Hendel, \"and that is to liquidate terrorism with force. There is nothing else. I will remind the listeners that once upon a time there used to be plane hijackings, but Israel taught the world that hijackers must not be negotiated with - until finally this plague was eliminated, and now it\'s been many years and there have been no hijackings. Terrorism is not negotiable!\"