Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin, a personal friend of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, has harsh criticism of his disengagement plan. In an interview with the German-language Shalom magazine, Rivlin explained that whatever strategic advantage Sharon hopes to garner from the expulsion of Jews from Gaza, the statement that such an act will imprint upon a hostile world will be eternally devastating.
"By evacuating just one Jewish village in Judea-Samaria-Gaza," Rivlin said, "we will be telling the whole world, and the Arabs in particular, that we are prepared to act in this way, which is very dangerous. The entire world will think that Israel is prepared to transfer territory without anything in return, which means that for a peace agreement, the Jewish State will also be prepared to return, a priori, to the 1967 borders. I say [this] because, Heaven forbid, if such a withdrawal takes place, we shall very quickly be faced by new demands that will force us to go back, always in the name of peace, to the borders of 1947 or 1948. It would be endless."
Asked if he thinks Sharon intends to withdraw from Gush Etzion, Ariel and parts of Jerusalem as well, Rivlin said: "Absolutely not! However, his initiative will open up the way for those coming after him to say, 'The Likud under Ariel Sharon made unilateral concessions, and it is obvious that to live in peace Israel must continue to make new, painful efforts.' I am very well acquainted with our prime minister's thinking. He sincerely believes that by going for unilateral disengagement he will be able to control the situation. He would then be able to tell the world that Israel has done enough for peace in the region and that now the ball is in the other side's court. He also thinks he will obtain some understanding for Israel defending its vital interests without being exposed to the criticism and pressure from the rest of the world."
But Rivlin believes that his friend is making a grave error and is under a "serious delusion." The Speaker described a "most instructive experience" in which he was talking with various European dignitaries while in Paris on invitation from the Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate: "They asked me, 'How can it be that someone like you, one of Ariel Sharon's best friends, is opposed to the unilateral withdrawal plan?'"
"I replied, 'I actually have a question for you on this subject. When the Prime Minister of Israel tries to convince me of the righteousness of his approach, he always states that if we implement the plan, France and other European countries will no longer insist that we evacuate the other territories in Judea and Samaria, because they will understand that we have done our utmost to advance the cause of peace. He believes that we would then benefit from a 'period of quiet' of at least fifteen years. In your opinion, is he right? Because if so, I would have to change my point of view... ' Their response was to burst out laughing and tell me, 'We now understand why you are not supporting your prime minister.'"
"A few glasses, polite exchanges and jokes later, I put the question to them again, whether or not they would grant us a period of grace of fifteen months, fifteen weeks, fifteen days or fifteen minutes, and the laughing at the beginning just became indulgent smiles.'"
Rivlin says the experience was not surprising: "In the end, they confirmed what I had suspected: the entire world absolutely wants us to go back to the 1967 borders. Yet, it was exactly because of those borders that Israel suffered so much, so many threats and so many wars."
Rivlin stressed that the folly of the Oslo Accords, in which short-term benefits were gained at the expense of future security, is being repeated in the form of the Disengagement Plan. "Today, we find ourselves in almost the same position as before Oslo. If we decide to give in and make unilateral concessions, we temporarily win the world's sympathy... But very quickly, the PLO, Arafat and his successors will again formulate new demands that will be unacceptable to us, and a fresh period of violence, suffering and death will start. At that point the world will again start to apply pressure, telling us, 'You ought to make just another small effort to relieve the suffering of the Palestinians.'"
A translation of the entire interview can be read here.
"By evacuating just one Jewish village in Judea-Samaria-Gaza," Rivlin said, "we will be telling the whole world, and the Arabs in particular, that we are prepared to act in this way, which is very dangerous. The entire world will think that Israel is prepared to transfer territory without anything in return, which means that for a peace agreement, the Jewish State will also be prepared to return, a priori, to the 1967 borders. I say [this] because, Heaven forbid, if such a withdrawal takes place, we shall very quickly be faced by new demands that will force us to go back, always in the name of peace, to the borders of 1947 or 1948. It would be endless."
Asked if he thinks Sharon intends to withdraw from Gush Etzion, Ariel and parts of Jerusalem as well, Rivlin said: "Absolutely not! However, his initiative will open up the way for those coming after him to say, 'The Likud under Ariel Sharon made unilateral concessions, and it is obvious that to live in peace Israel must continue to make new, painful efforts.' I am very well acquainted with our prime minister's thinking. He sincerely believes that by going for unilateral disengagement he will be able to control the situation. He would then be able to tell the world that Israel has done enough for peace in the region and that now the ball is in the other side's court. He also thinks he will obtain some understanding for Israel defending its vital interests without being exposed to the criticism and pressure from the rest of the world."
But Rivlin believes that his friend is making a grave error and is under a "serious delusion." The Speaker described a "most instructive experience" in which he was talking with various European dignitaries while in Paris on invitation from the Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate: "They asked me, 'How can it be that someone like you, one of Ariel Sharon's best friends, is opposed to the unilateral withdrawal plan?'"
"I replied, 'I actually have a question for you on this subject. When the Prime Minister of Israel tries to convince me of the righteousness of his approach, he always states that if we implement the plan, France and other European countries will no longer insist that we evacuate the other territories in Judea and Samaria, because they will understand that we have done our utmost to advance the cause of peace. He believes that we would then benefit from a 'period of quiet' of at least fifteen years. In your opinion, is he right? Because if so, I would have to change my point of view... ' Their response was to burst out laughing and tell me, 'We now understand why you are not supporting your prime minister.'"
"A few glasses, polite exchanges and jokes later, I put the question to them again, whether or not they would grant us a period of grace of fifteen months, fifteen weeks, fifteen days or fifteen minutes, and the laughing at the beginning just became indulgent smiles.'"
Rivlin says the experience was not surprising: "In the end, they confirmed what I had suspected: the entire world absolutely wants us to go back to the 1967 borders. Yet, it was exactly because of those borders that Israel suffered so much, so many threats and so many wars."
Rivlin stressed that the folly of the Oslo Accords, in which short-term benefits were gained at the expense of future security, is being repeated in the form of the Disengagement Plan. "Today, we find ourselves in almost the same position as before Oslo. If we decide to give in and make unilateral concessions, we temporarily win the world's sympathy... But very quickly, the PLO, Arafat and his successors will again formulate new demands that will be unacceptable to us, and a fresh period of violence, suffering and death will start. At that point the world will again start to apply pressure, telling us, 'You ought to make just another small effort to relieve the suffering of the Palestinians.'"
A translation of the entire interview can be read here.