Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lashed out at Labor Party candidate Amram Mitzna at today's government meeting, saying that Mitzna's ideas about negotiations with the Arabs "are not and will not be the policy of the State of Israel." Sharon has often stated in the past that he intends to invite Mitzna to join a national unity government after the elections.
Sharon said today that "a real opportunity exists to start a political process" of negotiations with the PLO, and that "we can't let this opportunity slip out of our hands because of Mitzna's lack of experience." The Prime Minister's remarks were made at the open-to-reporters part of the Cabinet session. Sharon added that while there were "cracks in the Palestinian camp" enabling a real opportunity to revive the political process, Mitzna's policies would thwart that process.
Mr. Sharon also had sharp words for former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, whom he said promised the PLO "almost total withdrawal, with nothing in return, and allowing for the return of thousands of Palestinians to Israel that would bring about the end of Israel as a Jewish state." He said that liberal Labor Party "family-reunification" policies after Oslo "increased the Arab population [in Israel] by over 100,000 at least."
MK Ophir Pines, Secretary-General of the Labor Party, reacted to Sharon's attacks by saying, "The Prime Minister has lost his mind… Unfortunately, he has cynically turned the government into Metzudat Ze'ev [Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv] by using a government meeting as a vehicle for expounding Likud election propaganda. Sharon is attempting to artificially manipulate a change in the public's set of priorities, trying to divert attention away from the issue of corruption in the Likud [and concentrate instead on] the political argument…"
Labor chief Mitzna is expected to respond strongly to Sharon's remarks in a speech he will deliver tonight at Tel Aviv University. His advisors say he will attack Sharon's sons Omri and Gilad, whose names have been associated with reports of suspected corruption over the past few years. This afternoon, Mitzna said that everything Sharon has done as Prime Minister has led Israel into "catastrophe." He also promised to pull the IDF out of Hevron, saying that keeping 70 or 80 Jews families there for another ten years amidst 135,000 Arabs is "against nature."
Sharon said today that "a real opportunity exists to start a political process" of negotiations with the PLO, and that "we can't let this opportunity slip out of our hands because of Mitzna's lack of experience." The Prime Minister's remarks were made at the open-to-reporters part of the Cabinet session. Sharon added that while there were "cracks in the Palestinian camp" enabling a real opportunity to revive the political process, Mitzna's policies would thwart that process.
Mr. Sharon also had sharp words for former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, whom he said promised the PLO "almost total withdrawal, with nothing in return, and allowing for the return of thousands of Palestinians to Israel that would bring about the end of Israel as a Jewish state." He said that liberal Labor Party "family-reunification" policies after Oslo "increased the Arab population [in Israel] by over 100,000 at least."
MK Ophir Pines, Secretary-General of the Labor Party, reacted to Sharon's attacks by saying, "The Prime Minister has lost his mind… Unfortunately, he has cynically turned the government into Metzudat Ze'ev [Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv] by using a government meeting as a vehicle for expounding Likud election propaganda. Sharon is attempting to artificially manipulate a change in the public's set of priorities, trying to divert attention away from the issue of corruption in the Likud [and concentrate instead on] the political argument…"
Labor chief Mitzna is expected to respond strongly to Sharon's remarks in a speech he will deliver tonight at Tel Aviv University. His advisors say he will attack Sharon's sons Omri and Gilad, whose names have been associated with reports of suspected corruption over the past few years. This afternoon, Mitzna said that everything Sharon has done as Prime Minister has led Israel into "catastrophe." He also promised to pull the IDF out of Hevron, saying that keeping 70 or 80 Jews families there for another ten years amidst 135,000 Arabs is "against nature."