Today's special mid-recess Knesset debate on the Oslo process and the lessons to be learned from its failure was conducted in a very orderly and quiet manner, reports Haggai Seri - possibly in light of, or despite, yesterday's two terrorist attacks. Seri noted that Likud MK Yuli Edelstein began with a unique type of speech:
"Edelstein said that the month of Elul is a time of repentance, and he thereupon began enumerating all the sins of Oslo:
* Making secret decisions by a group of youngsters who were not authorized to do so [a reference to the clandestine and even illegal way in which the pre-Oslo negotiations took place between representatives of the Labor Party and the PLO];
* the sin of the Mitsubishi [the deputy-ministership offered by Labor to two right-wing party MKs, Segev and Goldfarb, in exchange for their vote in favor of the second Oslo agreement];
* the sin of running away from responsibility and giving it to the PLO leaders because 'we were tired;'
* the sin of trying to solve major problems hastily by just saying everything will be OK;
* and most of all, the syndrome of silencing opponents and going along with the flock."
Edelstein said in this connection that he remembers 'the satanic smile of self-righteousness' against those who dared question Oslo. He also condemned the media for not paying attention to all the question marks and writing on the wall against Oslo. "This decade of blood," the MK said, "and the many sacrifices that we have lost, obligate us to come to this one very logical conclusion: There can be and there is no continuation to Oslo. No map of any type, and no roads of any sort, will lead us anywhere."
MK Chaim Ramon (Labor) told the Knesset that there is no partner on the PA side with whom to negotiate. He acknowledged that there were mistakes in the Oslo process - yet he blamed Ariel Sharon personally for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis, in that Sharon did not complete the construction of the partition wall. It was noted that during the Rabin-Peres-Barak days, apportioning personal blame to a Prime Minister for the death of Israelis would have been grounds for arrest on charges of incitement.
"Edelstein said that the month of Elul is a time of repentance, and he thereupon began enumerating all the sins of Oslo:
* Making secret decisions by a group of youngsters who were not authorized to do so [a reference to the clandestine and even illegal way in which the pre-Oslo negotiations took place between representatives of the Labor Party and the PLO];
* the sin of the Mitsubishi [the deputy-ministership offered by Labor to two right-wing party MKs, Segev and Goldfarb, in exchange for their vote in favor of the second Oslo agreement];
* the sin of running away from responsibility and giving it to the PLO leaders because 'we were tired;'
* the sin of trying to solve major problems hastily by just saying everything will be OK;
* and most of all, the syndrome of silencing opponents and going along with the flock."
Edelstein said in this connection that he remembers 'the satanic smile of self-righteousness' against those who dared question Oslo. He also condemned the media for not paying attention to all the question marks and writing on the wall against Oslo. "This decade of blood," the MK said, "and the many sacrifices that we have lost, obligate us to come to this one very logical conclusion: There can be and there is no continuation to Oslo. No map of any type, and no roads of any sort, will lead us anywhere."
MK Chaim Ramon (Labor) told the Knesset that there is no partner on the PA side with whom to negotiate. He acknowledged that there were mistakes in the Oslo process - yet he blamed Ariel Sharon personally for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis, in that Sharon did not complete the construction of the partition wall. It was noted that during the Rabin-Peres-Barak days, apportioning personal blame to a Prime Minister for the death of Israelis would have been grounds for arrest on charges of incitement.