\"Only the blind, or those whose emotional attachment to their own desires makes it difficult for them to face reality - can continue with talk that makes you want to pinch yourself and say, ‘Tell me, can this be real!?’” Thus did Ehud Barak, in his first political speech yesterday since losing the election in six months ago, criticize those in his Labor Party who continue to wish to negotiate with Yasser Arafat. Although Barak did not mention Shimon Peres by name, the reference was clear. Peres responded sharply to the criticism: \"I suggest that everyone learn from their own mistakes… Barak himself met with Arafat and made him far-reaching offers. My discussions with Arafat are not on content, but on how to stop the violence.\" Yossi Beilin, another target of Barak\'s attack, said that there is no doubt that if Barak had won the February election, he would have continued negotiating with Arafat.
Barak also proposed the evacuation of 15% of Yesha towns - but then said that to dismantle even one of them at this point in time would be construed as a prize for terrorism. In his fast-paced, right-wing-leaning speech, Barak further said,
“It is impossible now to relate to the third redeployment - which was signed under a completely different set of assumptions - as if nothing has happened. If we do so, we are liable find ourselves crossing the fine line between the ‘peace of the brave,’ for which it was worthwhile to take calculated risks and to make difficult, painful decisions leading ultimately to compromise on both sides - and the ‘peace of the ostrich,’ which was prevented at Camp David, namely, the possibility that we would continue to transfer more and more and then, when there remained nothing left to transfer, we would discover that, Heaven forbid, we have no partner for real peace negotiations or for an agreement.
“People have asked me, ‘What, have you just now realized who Arafat really is?\" The answer is, No! We had our concerns - not just me, but in my opinion every honest person had not a few concerns accompanying us throughout the Oslo process. But, despite the concerns, and out of a feeling of national responsibility, we were willing to go very far in order to examine the matter. Arafat is an experienced enough actor, smooth and evasive, such that it would have been impossible to examine it without risk. And we said that it was justified to take the risk, even if the risk would cost us politically, just so that we would know - after the efforts expended by Shimon [Peres] and Yitzchak [Rabin], after Yitzchak was murdered, after Shimon lost the elections as a result of waves of terrorism, and we again took power and we also had Clinton who was in his seventh year - it was time for us to know [whether Arafat was for real] once and for all. And so, despite our concerns, we went. Not as a trick; what we did was not a trick to pull Arafat into a trap and to expose him as worthless. It was rather a real effort to try and reach an agreement, if possible, while maintaining awareness at all times that we do not control the will of the other side. And if turned out that it was not possible, at least we stopped in its tracks this process of reckless transfer of our assets; we know what we are facing and we will be able to face it.
The former Prime Minister also raised the ire of some of his listeners with his endorsement of Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer in the race for party leader. Kibbutz Movement leaders said that he had previously agreed not to speak about internal politics during his speech. In a campaign appearance in Be\'er Sheva yesterday, Ben-Eliezer told supporters that Labor has been losing major ground among the Israeli public because it has been going \"further and further left over the past four years. There already is a strong left-wing party, namely, Meretz, our ally - but we, the Labor party, should not keep going leftwards, but rather concentrate on the true distinction between us and the Likud, namely, the concern for the individual...\" The internal election between Ben-Eliezer and Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg will be held in two weeks.
Barak also proposed the evacuation of 15% of Yesha towns - but then said that to dismantle even one of them at this point in time would be construed as a prize for terrorism. In his fast-paced, right-wing-leaning speech, Barak further said,
“It is impossible now to relate to the third redeployment - which was signed under a completely different set of assumptions - as if nothing has happened. If we do so, we are liable find ourselves crossing the fine line between the ‘peace of the brave,’ for which it was worthwhile to take calculated risks and to make difficult, painful decisions leading ultimately to compromise on both sides - and the ‘peace of the ostrich,’ which was prevented at Camp David, namely, the possibility that we would continue to transfer more and more and then, when there remained nothing left to transfer, we would discover that, Heaven forbid, we have no partner for real peace negotiations or for an agreement.
“People have asked me, ‘What, have you just now realized who Arafat really is?\" The answer is, No! We had our concerns - not just me, but in my opinion every honest person had not a few concerns accompanying us throughout the Oslo process. But, despite the concerns, and out of a feeling of national responsibility, we were willing to go very far in order to examine the matter. Arafat is an experienced enough actor, smooth and evasive, such that it would have been impossible to examine it without risk. And we said that it was justified to take the risk, even if the risk would cost us politically, just so that we would know - after the efforts expended by Shimon [Peres] and Yitzchak [Rabin], after Yitzchak was murdered, after Shimon lost the elections as a result of waves of terrorism, and we again took power and we also had Clinton who was in his seventh year - it was time for us to know [whether Arafat was for real] once and for all. And so, despite our concerns, we went. Not as a trick; what we did was not a trick to pull Arafat into a trap and to expose him as worthless. It was rather a real effort to try and reach an agreement, if possible, while maintaining awareness at all times that we do not control the will of the other side. And if turned out that it was not possible, at least we stopped in its tracks this process of reckless transfer of our assets; we know what we are facing and we will be able to face it.
The former Prime Minister also raised the ire of some of his listeners with his endorsement of Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer in the race for party leader. Kibbutz Movement leaders said that he had previously agreed not to speak about internal politics during his speech. In a campaign appearance in Be\'er Sheva yesterday, Ben-Eliezer told supporters that Labor has been losing major ground among the Israeli public because it has been going \"further and further left over the past four years. There already is a strong left-wing party, namely, Meretz, our ally - but we, the Labor party, should not keep going leftwards, but rather concentrate on the true distinction between us and the Likud, namely, the concern for the individual...\" The internal election between Ben-Eliezer and Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg will be held in two weeks.