The Israeli government’s take on the new “road map” is that it’s unlikely to work but good for public relations.
That was the message delivered from the horse’s mouth — or at least from near the horse that’s leading the charge at the moment. Former Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert was one of four deputy prime ministers that accompanied Ariel Sharon to the recent Aqaba summit with the new Palestinian leadership. He described the administration’s take on the peace process last month at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills.
“It’s hard to say, but the probability [for success] is much less than 50 percent,” the right-leaning Likudnik said to a capacity crowd of about 500. “It may be that Abu Mazen [aka Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister] is a short historical episode in the painful saga between us and the Palestinians. We will never settle at the expense of the security of the people of Israel.”
Olmert stressed that the government was not happy with the road map, which he said has elements that are “very dangerous.” He criticized the agreement as ambiguous about the right of return for Palestinians, jeopardizing the future of Israel as a Jewish state. He also said the government would not stand for a divided Jerusalem. These two issues, major sticking points in the last serious attempt at negotiations, are among 14 points of dissent that have been raised by the Israeli government.
However, said Olmert, “Do we want [it to be said that] ‘Israel blew it’? We decided not only to be just but smart. We did not want to appear as if we are cutting the chances to change the atmosphere.”
Meanwhile, he added, doubts about whether Abbas has the capability to deliver on his stated resolve to end terrorist attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups are getting stronger.
“It’s been more than a month [since Abbas was appointed prime minister], and we’ve seen no genuine effort,” he said. “We offered to pull out of the north of Gaza — if [the Palestinians] are responsible, then if something happens, everybody knows — but they say they are not ready, they need a timeframe. Right now they have 20,000 armed security guys in Gaza, they have enough power to stop Hamas…If they are not prepared to face them head on and fight them, how will they disarm them?”
Olmert was decidedly unapologetic about Israel’s recent assassination attempt against Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi, and he suggested that the United States was playing a public relations game as well by denouncing it. “The president [of the United States] made remarks about being upset about our attempt to eliminate the head of Hamas, but some of us felt that he was upset that it was not successful.” The audience applauded loudly.
In a question-and-answer session, Olmert, whose job as minister of industry and trade is to help bolster Israel’s languishing economy, said that the effort to build a security fence between Israel and the West Bank was proceeding, but slowly. “It will cost $3 billion, and given the economic constraints, it is very difficult. It will take two years and be 736 kilometers [457 miles] long.” He described the barrier as a series of walls more than 60 yards wide, outfitted with detection systems and cameras to alert security forces to breaches.
The audience gave Olmert a standing ovation at the conclusion of his talk, and a large crowd gathered around him afterward.
“He said what I believe — we have to give peace a chance, but I have no delusions,” said Charlie Marr, a member of Congregation Beth David in Saratoga, who has a daughter living in Jerusalem. “You don’t undo 100 years of brainwashing with a piece of paper from Washington.”