Foreign Minister Shimon Peres continues to defend the Oslo Agreement that he orchestrated almost ten years ago when he served in Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin's government. He told Israel Radio this morning,
"Oslo is still alive and well, no one has decided to nullify it, and I don't understand all this groundless chatter. What, if we had remained in the territories, there would not have been terrorism? There would have been no suicide bombers? What kind of chatter is this, that Oslo gave them weapons? Most of the problem is suicide bombers..."
Environment Minister Tzachi HaNegbi (Likud) responded firmly,
"The Oslo Agreements are dead and were buried, and on the gravestone is inscribed, 'Camp David, 2000,' when then-Prime Minister Barak returned from there and essentially said, 'We have no partner.'"
Responding specifically to Peres' rhetorical question about weapons, Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA wrote today,
"While there were some Palestinians within the West Bank and Gaza Strip who did indeed have hand guns and some assault rifles prior to Oslo, the following is a list of just some of weapons that have reached the area thanks to Mr. Peres' Oslo (in addition to a combined force of official PA forces and armed militias that may exceed 100,000 armed men): Commercial grade explosives and explosive devices; sniper rifles manned by CIA trained snipers; anti-tank missiles; mortars; ground-to-ground missiles; anti-aircraft missiles."
"Oslo is still alive and well, no one has decided to nullify it, and I don't understand all this groundless chatter. What, if we had remained in the territories, there would not have been terrorism? There would have been no suicide bombers? What kind of chatter is this, that Oslo gave them weapons? Most of the problem is suicide bombers..."
Environment Minister Tzachi HaNegbi (Likud) responded firmly,
"The Oslo Agreements are dead and were buried, and on the gravestone is inscribed, 'Camp David, 2000,' when then-Prime Minister Barak returned from there and essentially said, 'We have no partner.'"
Responding specifically to Peres' rhetorical question about weapons, Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA wrote today,
"While there were some Palestinians within the West Bank and Gaza Strip who did indeed have hand guns and some assault rifles prior to Oslo, the following is a list of just some of weapons that have reached the area thanks to Mr. Peres' Oslo (in addition to a combined force of official PA forces and armed militias that may exceed 100,000 armed men): Commercial grade explosives and explosive devices; sniper rifles manned by CIA trained snipers; anti-tank missiles; mortars; ground-to-ground missiles; anti-aircraft missiles."