Arutz-7 "Parallel Lines" program hosts Eshel Levine and Ariel Aviv conducted a special program yesterday on the issue of the partition wall - and came up with some fascinating results from the listening public. A poll taken towards the beginning of the show indicated that listeners were fairly equally divided on the question of whether construction on the wall should be stopped - but a second poll at the end of the program showed a majority of 78% in favor of halting construction. The wall, which was one of the main topics of discussion yesterday between Ariel Sharon and George Bush, is several meters high, 200 kilometers long (so far), and is supposed to keep terrorists out of pre-1967 Israel. Public opinion in Israel on the pros and cons of the partition is divided.
Excerpts from the words of the guests on yesterday's special program:
MK Eliezer Cohen (National Union) said that he would not grieve if the rest of the wall is not built, as "we survived many years without it." He said he is much more concerned about the release of terrorists, "because at least half of them will return to murder and terrorism - although I'm in favor of releasing the administrative prisoners... There should be a wall just in one place: around the Palestinian cantons, i.e., around the densely populated Arab areas, such as Jenin, Hevron, Shechem, etc., where there should be administrative autonomy."
Dr. Alon Liel, who served as Director-General of the Foreign Ministry when Labor was in power, praised Sharon's political acumen:
"Look how smart he is - he keeps everyone happy. The right-wing MK who spoke before me is pleased, and I, a left-winger, am also satisfied... Part of this is because Sharon himself is torn [regarding the wall], and so no one knows exactly what route the wall will take... If his plan is for a separation that will not enclose the Palestinians inside a narrow area and will not be a slap in the face of the Palestinians' national honor, then I'm in favor. But if he gets dragged along by the right-wing, and plans a route that will try to protect almost every single settler and every little Jewish community in Yesha out of mercy for each and every settler, I am very much against this."
Asked if he then places Palestinian national honor above Jewish life, Dr. Liel said, "What does life have to do with this? [The fact is that] Sharon should be credited for bringing what appears to be an end to terrorism." If so, asked Aviv and Levine, "why do we need a wall at all?" Liel then admitted that he is in favor of a wall not only for security reasons, but also for political reasons: "The wall I see in my mind's eye is one that will advance the concept of a Palestinian state," adding that the wall would not mark the precise final border, but something very close to it.
Atty. Ilan Etzion, who leads a public campaign on behalf of the partition, agreed that PM Sharon is very smart: "He is one of the smartest leaders we've ever had. He knows how to disguise the fact that he himself objects to the wall. He invited American pressure in order that he would have to stop its construction." Etzion explained that Sharon "suddenly made a strange change on the planned route and included the city of Ariel. This was a major penetration into the Shomron, just so that he could aggravate the Americans and get them to object to it." Etzion said that aside from the Ariel penetration, the Americans don't even object to the wall so much: "Ambassador Dan Kurtzer told us that the Americans wouldn't even mind if we included some of the Jewish communities near the Green Line on our side of the wall."
Finally, Prof. Ron Breiman of Professors for a Strong Israel said that the place to divide the Land of Israel is not along the Green Line, "but rather along the Jordan River." He agreed with MK Cohen that walls should be built only around Arab areas, but whereas Cohen saw those as political partitions, Breiman said that they would be a way to "fence in the terrorists, and not their victims." He said that at present, Sharon is losing from both ends: "He's building the wall in certain areas where it could become a de-facto border; he stopped the construction in Ariel; it's wasting much money that could be used for other things; and terrorists can easily get through the areas where there is no wall."