\"Today Sderot, Tomorrow Ashkelon.\" This is the title of an article by Gen. (res.) Oren Shachor in today\'s Ma\'ariv, wherein he writes,
\"Mortar fire on Sderot has changed the rules of the game... The Palestinians\' message is that it\'s not only Gilo, but rather, \'today Sderot, tomorrow Ashkelon\'... This is no longer a low-intensity clash, nor an armed intifada, but a continuing war of attrition with no end in sight... What should Israel do now? Only massive and determined military action against security and economic targets of the PA, including entering Area A - and remaining there if we have to - will cause the PA to \'blink\' and to look for a way to climb down from its way of violence... It is clear that now is no time to talk about returning to any sort of diplomatic negotiations, except for pragmatic security coordination, if such a thing is at all possible.\"
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Shachor served as head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria in the early-to-mid 1990\'s. Then-PM Netanyahu suspended him from the Israeli negotiating team with the Palestinians after it was discovered that he had systematically leaked to opposition head Shimon Peres details of the negotiations with the PLO.
Shachor explained to Arutz-7 today why he wrote what he jokingly said a \"right-wing extremist\" could have written: \"The situation has changed drastically. The Palestinian leaders have switched disks, and the dream of the window of opportunity during Rabin\'s time has now closed. They are no longer interested in negotiations.\"
Arutz-7\'s Haggai Segal: \"Maybe they were never interested in the first place?\"
Shachor: \"Here is where I disagree with you. There was a hope among some of the Palestinians, but it ended at Camp David, when then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak thought he could make an all-or-nothing deal. A partial deal could have been made... We could have received security assurances, such as in the Jordan Valley, regarding which I think Barak offered too much... But now we can\'t talk about talks any longer for two reasons: First of all, because the Palestinians are no longer interested, and secondly, from our point of view, I don\'t see how we can continue talks from the high level of offers that Barak made, especially in view of the fact that even that high level did not satisfy Arafat... It\'s irrelevant and very hard to prove now whether it was possible or not possible to ever have reached an agreement...\"
Segal: \"[The reason I ask is because] the title of your article, \"Today Sderot, Tomorrow Ashkelon,\" was actually said by [Likud MK] Benny Begin seven years ago...\"
Shachor: \"So I say again, it\'s a matter of timing. In my opinion, there was a chance to reach partial agreements on reasonable terms, where they would have a state and we would have security, and to get used to things over time. But now it is all spilt milk. I am not sure that when Benny Begin said this it was correct, but certainly now it is true. Both sides made mistakes - don\'t think that I am excusing the Palestinians from responsibility. Arafat had a great chance and he missed it, and now we have no partner.\"
Segal: \"How then do you see the future?\"
Shachor: \"Heh, this is the big question. I assume that if we are determined, and work on our national strength, and our deterrence, then at the end we will reach a situation where, as I wrote, they will blink and want to return to the table... It will take time... The major change today is that the PA is running the show, leading the warfare against us.\"
Segal: \"Well, that didn\'t start today - Arafat smuggled in three terrorists on his first trip to Gaza!\"
Shachor: \"Uh, I am saying that Arafat and other PA leaders acted this way before, and this is part of the mistakes that he made throughout the process. When you make peace, it must be built on trust. We can analyze it after-the-fact, but what is clear to me now is that we have no partner for peace.\"
\"Mortar fire on Sderot has changed the rules of the game... The Palestinians\' message is that it\'s not only Gilo, but rather, \'today Sderot, tomorrow Ashkelon\'... This is no longer a low-intensity clash, nor an armed intifada, but a continuing war of attrition with no end in sight... What should Israel do now? Only massive and determined military action against security and economic targets of the PA, including entering Area A - and remaining there if we have to - will cause the PA to \'blink\' and to look for a way to climb down from its way of violence... It is clear that now is no time to talk about returning to any sort of diplomatic negotiations, except for pragmatic security coordination, if such a thing is at all possible.\"
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Shachor served as head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria in the early-to-mid 1990\'s. Then-PM Netanyahu suspended him from the Israeli negotiating team with the Palestinians after it was discovered that he had systematically leaked to opposition head Shimon Peres details of the negotiations with the PLO.
Shachor explained to Arutz-7 today why he wrote what he jokingly said a \"right-wing extremist\" could have written: \"The situation has changed drastically. The Palestinian leaders have switched disks, and the dream of the window of opportunity during Rabin\'s time has now closed. They are no longer interested in negotiations.\"
Arutz-7\'s Haggai Segal: \"Maybe they were never interested in the first place?\"
Shachor: \"Here is where I disagree with you. There was a hope among some of the Palestinians, but it ended at Camp David, when then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak thought he could make an all-or-nothing deal. A partial deal could have been made... We could have received security assurances, such as in the Jordan Valley, regarding which I think Barak offered too much... But now we can\'t talk about talks any longer for two reasons: First of all, because the Palestinians are no longer interested, and secondly, from our point of view, I don\'t see how we can continue talks from the high level of offers that Barak made, especially in view of the fact that even that high level did not satisfy Arafat... It\'s irrelevant and very hard to prove now whether it was possible or not possible to ever have reached an agreement...\"
Segal: \"[The reason I ask is because] the title of your article, \"Today Sderot, Tomorrow Ashkelon,\" was actually said by [Likud MK] Benny Begin seven years ago...\"
Shachor: \"So I say again, it\'s a matter of timing. In my opinion, there was a chance to reach partial agreements on reasonable terms, where they would have a state and we would have security, and to get used to things over time. But now it is all spilt milk. I am not sure that when Benny Begin said this it was correct, but certainly now it is true. Both sides made mistakes - don\'t think that I am excusing the Palestinians from responsibility. Arafat had a great chance and he missed it, and now we have no partner.\"
Segal: \"How then do you see the future?\"
Shachor: \"Heh, this is the big question. I assume that if we are determined, and work on our national strength, and our deterrence, then at the end we will reach a situation where, as I wrote, they will blink and want to return to the table... It will take time... The major change today is that the PA is running the show, leading the warfare against us.\"
Segal: \"Well, that didn\'t start today - Arafat smuggled in three terrorists on his first trip to Gaza!\"
Shachor: \"Uh, I am saying that Arafat and other PA leaders acted this way before, and this is part of the mistakes that he made throughout the process. When you make peace, it must be built on trust. We can analyze it after-the-fact, but what is clear to me now is that we have no partner for peace.\"