\"Knowing then what you know now, would you still have voted for the Oslo Accords in 1993?\" This was the question recently asked by Makor Rishon reporter Sofia Ron of several Knesset Members who supported the first Oslo agreement. Their responses:
Avraham Poraz (of the Shinui party, which in 1993 was a faction of Meretz): \"If I would have known that things would develop the way they did in the past half-year, I would not have voted for Oslo. The Palestinians deceived us, mostly regarding the Right of Return [of Arab refugees from 1948]. I thought that their demands did not go beyond 1967... We all thought, including Rabin, that they would cede their Right of Return demands.\"
Ran Cohen (Meretz): \"The violence of today was not caused by Oslo, but rather because of the violations of Oslo. Arafat violated Oslo when he began the violence, and Barak violated Oslo when he attempted to go for a final-status solution instead of continuing along the path of interim agreements... The military infrastructure [of the Palestinian Authority] was formed in order to stop the terrorism.\" Makor Rishon: \"But as was predicted, the exact opposite occurred.\" Cohen: \"Unfortunately.\"
Avi Yechezkel (Labor): \"Today, I would not vote for Oslo. I would not give them weapons. But I trusted Rabin. If he would have been alive, he would have ended it.\"
Eli Ben-Menachem (Labor): \"I voted for it because I believed, like everyone else, it would bring peace. If I would have known, and I am not a prophet, I\'m not sure that I would have supported it... We didn\'t make a mistake, because we had faith. We had good intentions, the desire to go forward. If the Palestinians would have been honest it would have been great...\"
Alex Goldfarb is currently not a Knesset Member. He was an MK in 1995, however, when he split away from the right-wing Tzomet party to form a 2-man faction shortly before the Oslo II agreement was signed. He had voted against the first Oslo agreement, but following pressures from the left-wing to change his vote, including promises of a Deputy Ministerial post, he voted in favor of the second Oslo agreement. He answered Makor Rishon\'s question as follows: \"I would have had several reservations and voted otherwise... I would have voted for it only if the Palestinians would not have been given rifles, but rather only pistols [for their security forces]...\"
Avraham Poraz (of the Shinui party, which in 1993 was a faction of Meretz): \"If I would have known that things would develop the way they did in the past half-year, I would not have voted for Oslo. The Palestinians deceived us, mostly regarding the Right of Return [of Arab refugees from 1948]. I thought that their demands did not go beyond 1967... We all thought, including Rabin, that they would cede their Right of Return demands.\"
Ran Cohen (Meretz): \"The violence of today was not caused by Oslo, but rather because of the violations of Oslo. Arafat violated Oslo when he began the violence, and Barak violated Oslo when he attempted to go for a final-status solution instead of continuing along the path of interim agreements... The military infrastructure [of the Palestinian Authority] was formed in order to stop the terrorism.\" Makor Rishon: \"But as was predicted, the exact opposite occurred.\" Cohen: \"Unfortunately.\"
Avi Yechezkel (Labor): \"Today, I would not vote for Oslo. I would not give them weapons. But I trusted Rabin. If he would have been alive, he would have ended it.\"
Eli Ben-Menachem (Labor): \"I voted for it because I believed, like everyone else, it would bring peace. If I would have known, and I am not a prophet, I\'m not sure that I would have supported it... We didn\'t make a mistake, because we had faith. We had good intentions, the desire to go forward. If the Palestinians would have been honest it would have been great...\"
Alex Goldfarb is currently not a Knesset Member. He was an MK in 1995, however, when he split away from the right-wing Tzomet party to form a 2-man faction shortly before the Oslo II agreement was signed. He had voted against the first Oslo agreement, but following pressures from the left-wing to change his vote, including promises of a Deputy Ministerial post, he voted in favor of the second Oslo agreement. He answered Makor Rishon\'s question as follows: \"I would have had several reservations and voted otherwise... I would have voted for it only if the Palestinians would not have been given rifles, but rather only pistols [for their security forces]...\"