Maj.-Gen. (res.) Oren Shachor, a former IDF Coordinator for Judea and Samaria and a senior member of Israel's negotiating team with the Palestinian Authority under the Peres government, spoke with Arutz-7 about Peres' above remarks:
"I'm sure he believes in what he says... He is also correct from a formal standpoint, as the Oslo agreements were never nullified, and parts of it do still exist - such as the Palestinian Authority, and today's session of the Palestinian Legislative Council... But from a broad viewpoint, it's clear the Oslo Agreements are certainly not being carried out - first and foremost by the Palestinians; Peres should turn first to them. This began, actually, in Sept. '96 [during Arab riots and attacks after then-Prime Minister Netanyahu opened the Hasmonean Tunnels in Jerusalem; at least 11 soldiers were killed]... Peres is also not accurate in blaming Netanyahu for the failure of Oslo; Netanyahu actually went fairly far with Oslo. In the end he didn't give them much [except for Hevron] because he went with what he called, 'If they give, they'll get' - and he was apparently right in this matter, in the final analysis..."
Likud MK Yuval Shteinitz was asked today about Peres' claims that there were suicide attacks even before Oslo and that no one knows what would have been the situation had Oslo not bee signed. Shteinitz responded,
"It's true that there was always terrorism - but before Oslo there were 10 or 20 victims a year, while since Oslo this number has multiplied several times. This shows clearly that we have a totally new situation. Since Oslo, the terrorist infrastructures of Hamas and Islamic Jihad have grown by 2,000 or 3,000% - and I haven't even begun to talk about the terrorist infrastructures of the PA itself - Fatah, Al-Aqsa Brigades, etc. There's a difference between individual knife-wielding terrorists of the pre-Oslo period, and the situation now where the PA has entire mechanisms that encourage and train terrorists to carry out suicide attacks and ambush soldiers."
Shteinitz was also asked if he would recommend that Israel formally nullify the Oslo accords. He said that the first priority is to nullify the results thereof, namely, the Palestinian Authority:
"It's not enough to fight against the PA, or to have a cease-fire. All we have to do is look at the incitement to violence [in the PA], which is influencing Israeli-Arabs as well, and see the attempts to smuggle in weapons such as katyushas from Iran and to station them in close proximity to Tel Aviv and our army bases - these are reasons enough to put an end to the PA, even if terrorism were to stop for a long while."
"I'm sure he believes in what he says... He is also correct from a formal standpoint, as the Oslo agreements were never nullified, and parts of it do still exist - such as the Palestinian Authority, and today's session of the Palestinian Legislative Council... But from a broad viewpoint, it's clear the Oslo Agreements are certainly not being carried out - first and foremost by the Palestinians; Peres should turn first to them. This began, actually, in Sept. '96 [during Arab riots and attacks after then-Prime Minister Netanyahu opened the Hasmonean Tunnels in Jerusalem; at least 11 soldiers were killed]... Peres is also not accurate in blaming Netanyahu for the failure of Oslo; Netanyahu actually went fairly far with Oslo. In the end he didn't give them much [except for Hevron] because he went with what he called, 'If they give, they'll get' - and he was apparently right in this matter, in the final analysis..."
Likud MK Yuval Shteinitz was asked today about Peres' claims that there were suicide attacks even before Oslo and that no one knows what would have been the situation had Oslo not bee signed. Shteinitz responded,
"It's true that there was always terrorism - but before Oslo there were 10 or 20 victims a year, while since Oslo this number has multiplied several times. This shows clearly that we have a totally new situation. Since Oslo, the terrorist infrastructures of Hamas and Islamic Jihad have grown by 2,000 or 3,000% - and I haven't even begun to talk about the terrorist infrastructures of the PA itself - Fatah, Al-Aqsa Brigades, etc. There's a difference between individual knife-wielding terrorists of the pre-Oslo period, and the situation now where the PA has entire mechanisms that encourage and train terrorists to carry out suicide attacks and ambush soldiers."
Shteinitz was also asked if he would recommend that Israel formally nullify the Oslo accords. He said that the first priority is to nullify the results thereof, namely, the Palestinian Authority:
"It's not enough to fight against the PA, or to have a cease-fire. All we have to do is look at the incitement to violence [in the PA], which is influencing Israeli-Arabs as well, and see the attempts to smuggle in weapons such as katyushas from Iran and to station them in close proximity to Tel Aviv and our army bases - these are reasons enough to put an end to the PA, even if terrorism were to stop for a long while."