Posted on 09/09/2003 6:12:36 PM PDT by yonif
Tourism Minister Benny Elon wrote in Maariv today that the expulsion of Arafat might gain Ariel Sharon some public opinion points, but is not a substitute for a clear diplomatic policy. "I'm not against it," Elon told Arutz-7 today, "but I just don't want it to be presented as a change in Israeli policy. We can't relate to Arafat, nor any individual - but to the Palestinian Authority in toto. At this rate, instead of Abu Mazen, we'll have Abu Ala, and he'll be replaced by Abu Ali, and then Abu Jilda or whoever - there are a lot of Abu's in the world, but what we need is something to replace this failed Oslo program. The entire leadership must be expelled, including Abu Ala and including Arafat, or even killed if that's what the security organs decide. But we have to escape the pre-conception that it has something to do with the specific leader of the PA."
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) made the same point this morning, saying that Abu Ala and the entire PLO leadership that arrived from Tunisia must be expelled. "The left-wing will say that you're simply trying to ensure that there is no one with whom to negotiate," Arutz-7's Haggai Segal countered. "Quite the contrary," said Minister Elon. "Getting rid of the Palestinian Authority will allow Jordan to return again and represent the Palestinian issue; a Palestinian state exists already, and its capital is Amman, while Israeli sovereignty will be in effect from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. We'll reach some kind of agreement about the refugees."
Segal said, "You might like this idea, but the Jordanians don't even want to talk about it!" Elon responded, "First of all, they do talk about it, and we repeat it, but we won't achieve it if we're not consistent with it. We have to repeat over and over what our long-range goals are... Some of the leading papers in the U.S. are very welcoming of this plan. I even read just now that the World Jewish Congress called on the Arab nations to take in refugees from Lebanon..."
Elon said that Prime Minister Sharon is more welcoming of this plan now than before, and is openly aware of Arafat's involvement in terrorism. He said that "in the previous government, in which Peres was a partner, I was only able to get the government to resolve that the PA was a 'terrorist-supporting' entity, as opposed to a 'terrorist entity...' We can't just stand around and bemoan the situation; we have to lead and come up with a plan of our own... and then we will be able to celebrate in Ramat-El instead of in Ramallah and in Jewish Shechem, etc."
Minister Elon has been gathering support for a peace plan stipulating that Jordan is in fact the Palestinian state. The plan's six principles, listed at "www.therightroadtopeace.com", are as follows:
* Immediate dissolution of the Palestinian Authority, a non-viable entity with no future, whose existence precludes the termination of the conflict.
* Israel will eradicate the Palestinian terror infrastructure.
* Israel, the United States and the international community will recognize the Kingdom of Jordan as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinians, and will implement a plan to rehabilitate Jordan's economy and development.
* Israeli sovereignty will be asserted over Judea, Samaria and Gaza (the West Bank), while the Arab residents of these areas will become citizens of the Palestinian state in Jordan. The status of these citizens, their connection to the two states and the manner of administration of their communal lives will be decided in an agreement between the governments of Israel and Jordan (Palestine).
* The 1948 Refugees: Drawing a parallel between the Jewish refugees from Arab countries who were properly settled in Israel, and the Arab refugees who were left to live in squalor in Arab countries, the international community will allocate resources for the completion of the "exchange of populations" that began in 1948, as well as the full rehabilitation of the refugees and their absorption and naturalization in various countries.
* After implementation of the above stages, Israel and Jordan-Palestine will declare the conflict terminated, and will work to normalize peaceful relations in the entire region.
Is this really possible that this could become Israel's policy?
This is the only proposal I've heard that has a firm bearing on reality.
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