No document will actually be signed; instead, speeches will be delivered, musicians will perform for the audience - and Israeli government officials will be sitting at home, gritting their teeth at the diplomatic damage they feel the event will cause Israel. Prime Minister Sharon and many other government officials have condemned the initiative, which was negotiated by private citizens and opposition Knesset Members, yet makes many far-reaching concessions without commensurate demands from the PA side.
PA official Abdul Kader, one of those who helped formulate the Geneva initiative, has said openly that its main purpose was to create a split within Israel and to weaken Israel's nationalist camp.
Meir Rosenne, former Israeli Ambassador in Washington and Paris, and former legal counsel to the Foreign Ministry, notes that all ten left-wing MKs who left for Geneva today did so in apparent opposition to the Knesset Ethics Committee. The committee forbids MKs to travel abroad at the expense of foreign elements, unless approval is received prior to the trip. "The Swiss government, with its own interests, sent a plane," he said. "This is unheard of. Why, how would Switzerland react if the Israeli government would charter a special plane to send people over for a special session to deal with Swiss civil-rights violations of its Turkish workers. They would never accept this!" The Ethics Committee will discuss the matter at its next session.
Rosenne had other criticism of the Geneva initiative as well:
"I am astonished to see former MKs, and a former Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel such as Yossi Beilin, signing a document in which Israel agrees to become a country under international supervision! The document invites the world powers and the UN Security Council to ensure that Israel is keeping the agreement... In short, the damage caused by this document and this festival to Israel is tremendous, because it presents a picture to the world of lots of 'peace-loving' Israelis who have a cruel government that refuses to go along with them. This is a disgrace to all of Israel."
PA official Abdul Kader, one of those who helped formulate the Geneva initiative, has said openly that its main purpose was to create a split within Israel and to weaken Israel's nationalist camp.
Meir Rosenne, former Israeli Ambassador in Washington and Paris, and former legal counsel to the Foreign Ministry, notes that all ten left-wing MKs who left for Geneva today did so in apparent opposition to the Knesset Ethics Committee. The committee forbids MKs to travel abroad at the expense of foreign elements, unless approval is received prior to the trip. "The Swiss government, with its own interests, sent a plane," he said. "This is unheard of. Why, how would Switzerland react if the Israeli government would charter a special plane to send people over for a special session to deal with Swiss civil-rights violations of its Turkish workers. They would never accept this!" The Ethics Committee will discuss the matter at its next session.
Rosenne had other criticism of the Geneva initiative as well:
"I am astonished to see former MKs, and a former Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel such as Yossi Beilin, signing a document in which Israel agrees to become a country under international supervision! The document invites the world powers and the UN Security Council to ensure that Israel is keeping the agreement... In short, the damage caused by this document and this festival to Israel is tremendous, because it presents a picture to the world of lots of 'peace-loving' Israelis who have a cruel government that refuses to go along with them. This is a disgrace to all of Israel."