Criticism from almost all quarters was sounded against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for his much-vaunted speech last night at the Herzliya Conference.
Excerpts from the speech can be seen in the Special Insert below.
Its full text can be read here.
Sharon said he is committed to the Road Map plan, which demands that the PA fight and destroy terrorism. Israel, however, will not wait indefinitely, Sharon said, and if there is no progress by a certain time, he will begin certain unilateral moves such as withdrawal from some areas in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) and strengthening Israel's presence in others. He said that unauthorized outposts would be dismantled, and that some communities will be relocated.
Comments on the speech:
The Yesha Council of Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza expressed its confidence that the Israeli populace would reject the "retreat plan." The Council is concerned, however, that withdrawals will increase the terrorists' appetite for more attacks.
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) said,
"The residents of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) feel that Ariel Sharon has shot them in the back - those who he himself sent to Zionism's front lines. ... Sharon is like a fool who repeats his folly" - a reference to Sharon's destruction of the city of Yamit in Sinai in 1982.
Deputy Education Minister Tzvi Hendel (National Union) adopted an optimistic note, noting that the Prime Minister had not "caved in to the pressure of Tommy Lapid, Olmert and their friends, and was not tempted to stoop to mentioning the names of towns designated for uprooting... Sharon will not have a majority in his government to uproot towns and expel their residents, but if Heaven forbid he succeeds in implementing this plan, the National Union party will resign and will fight the government with all its strength."
Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev (NRP): "The sky doesn't fall in because of words. Whether or not the NRP remains in the government is dependent on its ability to influence the reality - and not on the rhetoric or verbiage of the Prime Minister... We believe in settlement, and we will fight to improve the situation in Yesha."
Aryeh Bachrach of the Almagor Terrorist Victims Association:
"Sharon is repeating the Lebanon model of running away from terrorism - although he calls it 'detachment.' This is a reward for terrorism... Sharon's claim that the Palestinians could receive much more via negotiations is totally meaningless - because first Sharon will withdraw, and they'll receive the rest afterwards. The same with his promise to annex areas that are 'certain to be part of Israel' - even the annexation of the Golan did not prevent the late Yitzchak Rabin from agreeing to turn the whole Golan over to the Syrians... Sharon declared war on the Jews, but regarding terrorism - no war, just retreat."
Women in Green:
"Sharon has become the #1 threat to the continued existence of Israel as a Jewish State. [With this speech] he has joined the ranks of the Oslo criminals who cooperate with the Arab enemy and cave in to the dictates of those who hate Israel. The nationalist parties and MKs must oust Ariel Sharon from the seat of power."
Yaakov (Ketzaleh) Katz, a prime force behind the establishment of Beit El and other Yesha communities and a former senior advisor to then-Housing Minister Ariel Sharon:
"Sharon was very cautious in his use of words. Note that he said, very emphatically, that 'unauthorized outposts will be removed, period!' This means that authorized outposts, including those that will receive authorization, will not be removed. He also said that there will be no more construction in the Yesha communities outside the 'lines of construction.' What does that mean?! It means that he knows it can't be stopped, especially private building - and we will continue to grow...
"In addition, this whole plan is virtual. Sharon's government will fall before all his plans can be executed. The Likud will not agree to be a minority in a government with left-wing parties in place of the right-wing parties..."
Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA:
"Sharon referred to the Road Map as the Road Map adopted by his Cabinet - but without mentioning that his Cabinet adopted the Road Map with 14 clarifications ... Just a month ago, on November 20, the Prime Minister's Office issued a press release using a different formula: 'Israel would like to reiterate [that] the Government of Israel accepted the Road Map along with 14 clarifications that it decided upon, and this is the one and only diplomatic plan that Israel is prepared to carry out.' PM Sharon and [other ministers] have stated in the past that the 14 Clarifications are 'red lines' for Israel."
Lerner noted that Raanan Gissin, Prime Minister Sharon's Foreign Press Advisor, told him afterwards that there "is no significance to" the fact that Sharon did not specifically mention the 14 clarifications, and that "the Cabinet decision, including the 14 clarifications, is the operative decision."
Dr. Lerner also said: "I shudder to think how many Israelis may die as a result of the special bonus Jew-hunting season Mr. Sharon essentially announced for the Palestinians tonight." Lerner noted that according to Sharon, Israel will retreat from areas of "friction... located in the heart of the Palestinian population." Since these points remained unspecified, Lerner said, "you will find that if the Palestinians engage in enough terror, pretty much any Jewish community located anywhere near the Palestinians can be defined as being in an area of 'friction in the heart of the Palestinian population' that Israel may be induced to retreat from."
On the left, Labor Party leader Shimon Peres said that Sharon's speech was just "verbiage," and that he would not join a national unity government under such circumstances. Labor MK Matan Vilnai said that unilateral gestures would push off peace chances "for years."
The extremist left-wing Gush Shalom group came out swinging, calling Sharon's speech "a masterpiece of misrepresentation, half-truths and outright lies. The polished formulations hide the clear intent of annexing more than half the West Bank [Judea and Samaria], while giving up a few far-away and isolated settlements that the army considers a burden." Gush Shalom notes that according to the Road Map, Israel must remove all settlements set up after January 2001 - and not only "unauthorized outposts," as Sharon said.
"This is a new language by the Israelis," said an optimistic Sheikh Nafez Azzam, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, "and this is evidence that the uprising [Oslo War] has created a new fact on the ground."
Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin had strong criticism of the Herzliya Conference itself. "The government is striking a blow at Israel's democracy when the Prime Minister and ministers deliver important speeches at the Herzliya Conference and not in the Knesset," Rivlin said. "The Knesset is the only place to hold important debates of this nature, and the government is causing the Knesset to be cheapened." Rivlin, a party colleague and friend of Ariel Sharon, has said that he would resign from the Knesset before voting to give up parts of the Land of Israel.
Excerpts from the speech can be seen in the Special Insert below.
Its full text can be read here.
Sharon said he is committed to the Road Map plan, which demands that the PA fight and destroy terrorism. Israel, however, will not wait indefinitely, Sharon said, and if there is no progress by a certain time, he will begin certain unilateral moves such as withdrawal from some areas in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) and strengthening Israel's presence in others. He said that unauthorized outposts would be dismantled, and that some communities will be relocated.
Comments on the speech:
The Yesha Council of Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza expressed its confidence that the Israeli populace would reject the "retreat plan." The Council is concerned, however, that withdrawals will increase the terrorists' appetite for more attacks.
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) said,
"The residents of Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) feel that Ariel Sharon has shot them in the back - those who he himself sent to Zionism's front lines. ... Sharon is like a fool who repeats his folly" - a reference to Sharon's destruction of the city of Yamit in Sinai in 1982.
Deputy Education Minister Tzvi Hendel (National Union) adopted an optimistic note, noting that the Prime Minister had not "caved in to the pressure of Tommy Lapid, Olmert and their friends, and was not tempted to stoop to mentioning the names of towns designated for uprooting... Sharon will not have a majority in his government to uproot towns and expel their residents, but if Heaven forbid he succeeds in implementing this plan, the National Union party will resign and will fight the government with all its strength."
Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev (NRP): "The sky doesn't fall in because of words. Whether or not the NRP remains in the government is dependent on its ability to influence the reality - and not on the rhetoric or verbiage of the Prime Minister... We believe in settlement, and we will fight to improve the situation in Yesha."
Aryeh Bachrach of the Almagor Terrorist Victims Association:
"Sharon is repeating the Lebanon model of running away from terrorism - although he calls it 'detachment.' This is a reward for terrorism... Sharon's claim that the Palestinians could receive much more via negotiations is totally meaningless - because first Sharon will withdraw, and they'll receive the rest afterwards. The same with his promise to annex areas that are 'certain to be part of Israel' - even the annexation of the Golan did not prevent the late Yitzchak Rabin from agreeing to turn the whole Golan over to the Syrians... Sharon declared war on the Jews, but regarding terrorism - no war, just retreat."
Women in Green:
"Sharon has become the #1 threat to the continued existence of Israel as a Jewish State. [With this speech] he has joined the ranks of the Oslo criminals who cooperate with the Arab enemy and cave in to the dictates of those who hate Israel. The nationalist parties and MKs must oust Ariel Sharon from the seat of power."
Yaakov (Ketzaleh) Katz, a prime force behind the establishment of Beit El and other Yesha communities and a former senior advisor to then-Housing Minister Ariel Sharon:
"Sharon was very cautious in his use of words. Note that he said, very emphatically, that 'unauthorized outposts will be removed, period!' This means that authorized outposts, including those that will receive authorization, will not be removed. He also said that there will be no more construction in the Yesha communities outside the 'lines of construction.' What does that mean?! It means that he knows it can't be stopped, especially private building - and we will continue to grow...
"In addition, this whole plan is virtual. Sharon's government will fall before all his plans can be executed. The Likud will not agree to be a minority in a government with left-wing parties in place of the right-wing parties..."
Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA:
"Sharon referred to the Road Map as the Road Map adopted by his Cabinet - but without mentioning that his Cabinet adopted the Road Map with 14 clarifications ... Just a month ago, on November 20, the Prime Minister's Office issued a press release using a different formula: 'Israel would like to reiterate [that] the Government of Israel accepted the Road Map along with 14 clarifications that it decided upon, and this is the one and only diplomatic plan that Israel is prepared to carry out.' PM Sharon and [other ministers] have stated in the past that the 14 Clarifications are 'red lines' for Israel."
Lerner noted that Raanan Gissin, Prime Minister Sharon's Foreign Press Advisor, told him afterwards that there "is no significance to" the fact that Sharon did not specifically mention the 14 clarifications, and that "the Cabinet decision, including the 14 clarifications, is the operative decision."
Dr. Lerner also said: "I shudder to think how many Israelis may die as a result of the special bonus Jew-hunting season Mr. Sharon essentially announced for the Palestinians tonight." Lerner noted that according to Sharon, Israel will retreat from areas of "friction... located in the heart of the Palestinian population." Since these points remained unspecified, Lerner said, "you will find that if the Palestinians engage in enough terror, pretty much any Jewish community located anywhere near the Palestinians can be defined as being in an area of 'friction in the heart of the Palestinian population' that Israel may be induced to retreat from."
On the left, Labor Party leader Shimon Peres said that Sharon's speech was just "verbiage," and that he would not join a national unity government under such circumstances. Labor MK Matan Vilnai said that unilateral gestures would push off peace chances "for years."
The extremist left-wing Gush Shalom group came out swinging, calling Sharon's speech "a masterpiece of misrepresentation, half-truths and outright lies. The polished formulations hide the clear intent of annexing more than half the West Bank [Judea and Samaria], while giving up a few far-away and isolated settlements that the army considers a burden." Gush Shalom notes that according to the Road Map, Israel must remove all settlements set up after January 2001 - and not only "unauthorized outposts," as Sharon said.
"This is a new language by the Israelis," said an optimistic Sheikh Nafez Azzam, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, "and this is evidence that the uprising [Oslo War] has created a new fact on the ground."
Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin had strong criticism of the Herzliya Conference itself. "The government is striking a blow at Israel's democracy when the Prime Minister and ministers deliver important speeches at the Herzliya Conference and not in the Knesset," Rivlin said. "The Knesset is the only place to hold important debates of this nature, and the government is causing the Knesset to be cheapened." Rivlin, a party colleague and friend of Ariel Sharon, has said that he would resign from the Knesset before voting to give up parts of the Land of Israel.