100,000 people, or more, showed up in Zion Square in Jerusalem tonight (Wednesday) to protest against the Road Map and the Israeli acceptance of a Palestinian state. Yesha Council leader Adi Mintz told Arutz-7 today that tonight's rally will have two themes:
"One ideological, namely that we cannot accept the Prime Minister referring to our land as occupied and as belonging to the enemy. Secondly, we will also speak of the dangers of the establishment of a Palestinian state. We will say clearly that giving a state to Palestinian terrorism after 32 months of almost [800] murders, is clearly rewarding terrorism."
Mintz explained that the terrorists do not accept Israel's existence, period, and that they therefore will
"resort to terrorism as soon as [Israel] appears to veer even slightly away from the Road Map process… The people of Israel heard the same nice things from Arafat ten years ago, that there would be no more terrorism, etc. and Israel fell for it, and now Abu Mazen is dragging us into this same trap. Today he says no to terrorism, yet just a few weeks ago he said that terrorism against Yesha residents is acceptable!"
Asked about the strong American pressure on Prime Minister Sharon, Mintz said,
"I'm sure it exists, but just like we tell our kids, 'if he tells you to jump off the roof, would you do it?' There are times in the life of a nation that it must make very hard decisions and 'just say no!'" It could cause great hardships, such as not receiving American loan guarantees, etc., but this is the price that we should be willing to pay. I would have thought that at times like this, Prime Minister Sharon, who led the settlement effort, would lead us differently."
As a prelude to tonight's giant Yesha Council rally in Jerusalem, residents of Israel's southern port city of Eilat - adjacent to Aqaba - began protesting this morning. Standing at the border crossing between Eilat and Jordan, the protesters carried signs that read: “Oslo Proves They Must Not Be Given a State."
Likud MK Yuval Shteinitz, Chairman of Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that he does not plan to attend tonight's rally, because "even though I agree with many of the messages that will be conveyed, it could easily turn into or be interpreted as a protest against the government and the Prime Minister - a stand with which I do not agree. I support the Prime Minister…" Earlier, Shteinitz explained why he was against the Road Map:
"I [do] not like to see an Israeli Prime Minister make declarations like [the ones he did] without getting anything serious in return from the other side - for instance, without having the 'moderate' prime minister of the PA be able to utter the words 'Jewish state.' Abbas is actually repeating the mistake of the mufti in 1947, who refused to recognize the UN's decision to establish a Jewish state…"
Asked if Abu Mazen would be able to control the terrorism, Shteinitz responded,
"I believe he can, but only if Egypt gives him the green light to fight Hamas. If so, he can do it. But Egypt is the main obstacle, because it is trying to attain a hudna [tactical cease-fire] that will keep Hamas and Islamic Jihad intact. But this isn't even our main problem; we complained about terrorism, so the world made it an issue. But there are things that are even more significant. For instance, a regular military army of the PA is a greater threat to our national security than is terrorism. This Road Map stipulates that we will [give away] territory, yet the agreement does not specify that these areas will be demilitarized. We must always be prepared for an all-out Arab war against Israel, and even a small Palestinian army in such close proximity to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion International Airport is an existential threat."
"One ideological, namely that we cannot accept the Prime Minister referring to our land as occupied and as belonging to the enemy. Secondly, we will also speak of the dangers of the establishment of a Palestinian state. We will say clearly that giving a state to Palestinian terrorism after 32 months of almost [800] murders, is clearly rewarding terrorism."
Mintz explained that the terrorists do not accept Israel's existence, period, and that they therefore will
"resort to terrorism as soon as [Israel] appears to veer even slightly away from the Road Map process… The people of Israel heard the same nice things from Arafat ten years ago, that there would be no more terrorism, etc. and Israel fell for it, and now Abu Mazen is dragging us into this same trap. Today he says no to terrorism, yet just a few weeks ago he said that terrorism against Yesha residents is acceptable!"
Asked about the strong American pressure on Prime Minister Sharon, Mintz said,
"I'm sure it exists, but just like we tell our kids, 'if he tells you to jump off the roof, would you do it?' There are times in the life of a nation that it must make very hard decisions and 'just say no!'" It could cause great hardships, such as not receiving American loan guarantees, etc., but this is the price that we should be willing to pay. I would have thought that at times like this, Prime Minister Sharon, who led the settlement effort, would lead us differently."
As a prelude to tonight's giant Yesha Council rally in Jerusalem, residents of Israel's southern port city of Eilat - adjacent to Aqaba - began protesting this morning. Standing at the border crossing between Eilat and Jordan, the protesters carried signs that read: “Oslo Proves They Must Not Be Given a State."
Likud MK Yuval Shteinitz, Chairman of Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that he does not plan to attend tonight's rally, because "even though I agree with many of the messages that will be conveyed, it could easily turn into or be interpreted as a protest against the government and the Prime Minister - a stand with which I do not agree. I support the Prime Minister…" Earlier, Shteinitz explained why he was against the Road Map:
"I [do] not like to see an Israeli Prime Minister make declarations like [the ones he did] without getting anything serious in return from the other side - for instance, without having the 'moderate' prime minister of the PA be able to utter the words 'Jewish state.' Abbas is actually repeating the mistake of the mufti in 1947, who refused to recognize the UN's decision to establish a Jewish state…"
Asked if Abu Mazen would be able to control the terrorism, Shteinitz responded,
"I believe he can, but only if Egypt gives him the green light to fight Hamas. If so, he can do it. But Egypt is the main obstacle, because it is trying to attain a hudna [tactical cease-fire] that will keep Hamas and Islamic Jihad intact. But this isn't even our main problem; we complained about terrorism, so the world made it an issue. But there are things that are even more significant. For instance, a regular military army of the PA is a greater threat to our national security than is terrorism. This Road Map stipulates that we will [give away] territory, yet the agreement does not specify that these areas will be demilitarized. We must always be prepared for an all-out Arab war against Israel, and even a small Palestinian army in such close proximity to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion International Airport is an existential threat."