Israeli Government Policy Is 'Both Stupid and Dangerous'

Mr Netanyahu has been accused of squandering chances for peace with the Palestinians Photo: GETTY


Benjamin Netanyahu's government is pursuing a "stupid and dangerous" policy of weakening the moderate Palestinian government that is jeopardising its security, Israel's former chief negotiator has warned. 

By Adrian Blomfield, Tel Aviv 
9:30PM BST 28 Oct 2011 
Courtesy Of "The Telegraph"

In a withering broadside against the administration of the Israeli prime minister, Dov Weissglas predicted that the determination of Mr Netanyahu's cabinet to punish the Palestinian Authority (PA) for seeking membership of the United Nations would harm Israel's security.

"I believe the policy of the present government of weakening the PA, if adopted, is both stupid and dangerous," he said in an interview. "I would not punish the Palestinians for approaching the UN.

"I think the approach to the UN was a mistake, simply an unproductive measure, but I prefer Palestinian resistance in diplomatic measures than in other modes."

Mr Weissglas accused Mr Netanyahu of squandering chances for peace with the Palestinians.

Short memories in Israel failed to give Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the PA, and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, credit for bringing terrorism under control. "I know the efforts they made, how difficult it was to stand up to speak loudly and clearly against terrorism when it was very unpopular in Palestine," he said. "To say that in 2003 needed a hell of a lot of courage."

Such gains, so difficult to achieve, could unravel with frightening speed, he warned. "Nobody feels like going back to the old days. This stability is bundled together by shoelaces. It is like a leaf. All you need is one blow and it is gone."

Mr Weissglas called on the Israeli government to make a major concession to Mr Abbas, either by releasing prisoners or through a similarly substantial gesture to strengthen his standing. Without such steps, he predicted that, even if the PA survived in weakened form, Mr Abbas would be forced into a corner and have to abandon his policy of moderation.

"You can take courageous decisions only when you are strong and self-confident," he said. "When you are weak you have to manifest a more radical position and demonstrate less flexibility."

A powerful figure in Ariel Sharon's government, Mr Weissglas fronted Israel's faltering negotiations with the Palestinian Authority at the height of the bloodletting.

Mr Abbas has suffered a series of setbacks in recent weeks after his controversial decision to seek UN backing for the creation of a Palestinian State in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

His moderate Fatah party has lost considerable standing with the Palestinian people after its Islamist rivals in Hamas secured the release of 1,027 prisoners in exchange for freeing the Israeli conscript Gilad Shalit. The deal has convinced many Palestinians that only the violent approach espoused by Hamas can wring major concessions from Israel.

Desperate to prove that his approach can also yield results, Mr Abbas has urged Israel to release hundreds more prisoners to Fatah but has been rebuffed by Mr Netanyahu's cabinet because of his approach to the UN.

The Israeli government is studying other ways to punish Mr Abbas, with Right-wing cabinet members calling for a halt to the transfer of Palestinian custom revenues, a step some have warned could cause the collapse of the PA.

Mr Weissglas said that such an outcome would be a "disaster". He pointed out that Mr Sharon, who fell into a coma in 2006, had promised talks within a week of violence ending but that Palestinians had been waiting years. "Part of Sharon's philosophy was no negotiations under fire," he said. "He said he would resume negotiations after seven days of quiet. Now we have had not seven days but seven years of quiet."