Asked if Prime Minister Sharon statements this morning about Beit El and Shilo could be construed to mean that general areas might be given away, but not actual points of Jewish settlement, Atty. Elyakim Ha'etzni of Kiryat Arba told Arutz-7,
"That question is representative of large parts of our national camp, who remind me of the former Iraqi Information Minister Al-Sahaf. He stood and saw the American tanks practically surrounding his building, and yet he continued to say that Iraq would smash the Americans and win the war… For a long time, people have been saying that Sharon doesn't really mean it, and that he himself said not to pay attention, and the like - and now, when the gun is pointed at our head, you still fool yourself into thinking that he doesn't really mean it? Sharon has just said clearly that he is planning to give away Beit El, Shilo, and the entire area, and he is using the language of the left. He didn't say 'conquest,' but he mentioned 'controlling another people' and that it arouses 'ethical questions' - this is the lexicon of the left-wing! Sharon is now the head of the peace [left-wing] camp!"
Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane: "Perhaps he's just trying to find favor in American eyes - after all, it's been two years already that he's been Prime Minister, and he has not brought about any diplomatic changes to our detriment."
Ha'etzni (with a bitter chuckle): "Diplomatic changes - what was the 'diplomatic change' in favor of the Jewish people that brought about the establishment of the State of Israel? The Balfour Declaration [of 30 years before], made by the British Foreign Minister Balfour! When the Prime Minister of Israel makes a statement that he is planning to give away Shilo and Beit El, or more, and that he will establish a Palestinian state, and says that there's an 'ethical problem,' and hints that he will dismantle Netzarim - which means probably most of Gaza - then [it means] that he has changed..."
Kahane: "What about the claim that some people make, that since it's dependent on the Palestinians stopping terrorism, which will never happen, therefore nothing will come of it? You don't put stock in that theory?"
Ha'etzni: "Sure, sure - once again the Al-Sahaf syndrome. If we don't rid ourselves of this syndrome, then we will find ourselves back where we were in Sinai [in 1982] when [then-Defense Minister] Sharon said that we should build more communities like Atzmonah [in order to prevent the withdrawal from Sinai], and then Sharon himself came and swept them all off the map... It was Ben-Gurion who said, when Sharon was a young and very promising army officer, that he [Sharon] has a problem with reliability - and it's still the same Sharon..."
Kahane: "What then do you think the Yesha people should do now?"
Ha'etzni: "The Yesha Council and Yesha must prepare for 'Shock Horse' - that is the name of the army unit that has been established to dismantle Yesha communities. It is the unit that already trampled Hilltop 26 [the home of the Ozeri widow and orphans, outside Kiryat Arba]. We must prepare for the destruction of Yesha settlements, and it could happen quite quickly...
"Sharon today is 'Peace Now.' We must organize mass demonstrations, like we did against the division of Jerusalem when Barak was Prime Minister. We must also act within the Likud, and cause the party itself to rise up against him. It cannot be that one dictator will tell an entire party - a glorious, nationalist party - to make a sudden about-face. 'Yesterday you were right-wing,' he tells them, 'and today you're on the extreme left.' He has adopted the program of Yossi Sarid, and given a total victory to Yasser Arafat! Shavit of Ha'aretz even pointed out [in the interview] that Sharon may have defeated the terrorism, but lost diplomatically. What this means is that we lost over 1,000 victims to terrorism in the ten years of Oslo, and in the end the Palestinians get a state! When the left was in power, Oslo collapsed and could not have been revived - but Sharon told the Americans that he was the only one who could revive it. It's time we opened our eyes and saw what's going on!"
See also National Union MK Uri Ariel's response, in the Government and Politics section of our news site.
"That question is representative of large parts of our national camp, who remind me of the former Iraqi Information Minister Al-Sahaf. He stood and saw the American tanks practically surrounding his building, and yet he continued to say that Iraq would smash the Americans and win the war… For a long time, people have been saying that Sharon doesn't really mean it, and that he himself said not to pay attention, and the like - and now, when the gun is pointed at our head, you still fool yourself into thinking that he doesn't really mean it? Sharon has just said clearly that he is planning to give away Beit El, Shilo, and the entire area, and he is using the language of the left. He didn't say 'conquest,' but he mentioned 'controlling another people' and that it arouses 'ethical questions' - this is the lexicon of the left-wing! Sharon is now the head of the peace [left-wing] camp!"
Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane: "Perhaps he's just trying to find favor in American eyes - after all, it's been two years already that he's been Prime Minister, and he has not brought about any diplomatic changes to our detriment."
Ha'etzni (with a bitter chuckle): "Diplomatic changes - what was the 'diplomatic change' in favor of the Jewish people that brought about the establishment of the State of Israel? The Balfour Declaration [of 30 years before], made by the British Foreign Minister Balfour! When the Prime Minister of Israel makes a statement that he is planning to give away Shilo and Beit El, or more, and that he will establish a Palestinian state, and says that there's an 'ethical problem,' and hints that he will dismantle Netzarim - which means probably most of Gaza - then [it means] that he has changed..."
Kahane: "What about the claim that some people make, that since it's dependent on the Palestinians stopping terrorism, which will never happen, therefore nothing will come of it? You don't put stock in that theory?"
Ha'etzni: "Sure, sure - once again the Al-Sahaf syndrome. If we don't rid ourselves of this syndrome, then we will find ourselves back where we were in Sinai [in 1982] when [then-Defense Minister] Sharon said that we should build more communities like Atzmonah [in order to prevent the withdrawal from Sinai], and then Sharon himself came and swept them all off the map... It was Ben-Gurion who said, when Sharon was a young and very promising army officer, that he [Sharon] has a problem with reliability - and it's still the same Sharon..."
Kahane: "What then do you think the Yesha people should do now?"
Ha'etzni: "The Yesha Council and Yesha must prepare for 'Shock Horse' - that is the name of the army unit that has been established to dismantle Yesha communities. It is the unit that already trampled Hilltop 26 [the home of the Ozeri widow and orphans, outside Kiryat Arba]. We must prepare for the destruction of Yesha settlements, and it could happen quite quickly...
"Sharon today is 'Peace Now.' We must organize mass demonstrations, like we did against the division of Jerusalem when Barak was Prime Minister. We must also act within the Likud, and cause the party itself to rise up against him. It cannot be that one dictator will tell an entire party - a glorious, nationalist party - to make a sudden about-face. 'Yesterday you were right-wing,' he tells them, 'and today you're on the extreme left.' He has adopted the program of Yossi Sarid, and given a total victory to Yasser Arafat! Shavit of Ha'aretz even pointed out [in the interview] that Sharon may have defeated the terrorism, but lost diplomatically. What this means is that we lost over 1,000 victims to terrorism in the ten years of Oslo, and in the end the Palestinians get a state! When the left was in power, Oslo collapsed and could not have been revived - but Sharon told the Americans that he was the only one who could revive it. It's time we opened our eyes and saw what's going on!"
See also National Union MK Uri Ariel's response, in the Government and Politics section of our news site.