Barak deplores leftists' 'Swiss Agreement'

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 9 October 2003 | TOVAH LAZAROFF AND GIL HOFFMAN

[anotherview]

Oct. 9, 2003
Barak deplores leftists' 'Swiss Agreement'
By TOVAH LAZAROFF AND GIL HOFFMAN

Former Labor prime minister Ehud Barak has harshly criticized the "Swiss Agreement", an alternate peace agreement with the Palestinians penned by Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo.

He called it "irresponsible and damaging to the State of Israel," Y-Net reported. He said that if the Labor Party wants to be taken seriously, it cannot be a party to such initiatives that "confuse both the public and our friends alike."

A group of left-wing and Labor politicians left for Jordan on Thursday evening to sign the agreement.

Labor Party sources told The Jerusalem Post that Beilin and Rabbo have been working on their plan for over a year.

Labor MKs Amram Mitzna and Avram Burg are also participating in what is the latest round of an ongoing series of dialogues, and the larger group of Israelis involved also includes Shinui MK Etti Livni.

In late 2000, near the end of former US President Bill Clinton's second term, Israeli and Palestinian officials meeting in Taba, Egypt, came up with an outline of an agreement that roughly called for Israel to cede some 95 percent of the territories, for Arab control of east Jerusalem, and for the right of refugees to return to a new Palestinian state, but not to pre-1967 Israel.

"It is a very serious attempt to bring before the public the possibility of a final contract with the Palestinians ... There are solutions we can live with concerning all issues like borders, water and transportation," said Livni, who did not travel to Jordan with the delegation.

Mitzna told Channel 1, "Both sides have a more mature and better understanding today of the need to return to the negotiating table. The will and the intention is there." He added that when an agreement is ready it will dispel the misconception that the other side is only interested in war.

Livni said that the media published a report Thursday of the groups work before they were members were ready to go public and before all the details were ironed out. She herself disagrees with some of the conclusions, even though she supports the overall process.

In a possible attempt to blunt the impact of the possible agreement, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Wednesday night sharply criticized the Labor party and Israeli leftists for talking with Palestinian officials. Group members, including Livni and Mitzna assume he was referencing their work.

"There is a cynical political attempt by Labor and the Left to topple the government at a time when it is fighting terror," Sharon said. "This must be taken seriously. They did it in a time of war before, and now, too, they are cooperating with the Palestinians in a time of war."

Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres said, in response, that Sharon was interested in unity only through the last election, and that he can speak with whomever he wants, wherever and whenever he wants.

Mitzna said he found Sharon's reaction puzzling. "Maybe he's nervous we will burst the illusion that there is no one to talk with and nothing to talk about. There is no doubt that there is someone to talk with and something to talk about," Mitzna told Channel 1.

The former general quit his position as leader of the Labor Party a few months ago, terming it ungovernable.

[anotherview]

Mr. Barak seems to have learned from his mistakes. It seems Messrs. Burg, Mitzna, and Beilin have not.

[Support Free Republic]

A Recall AND a Fundraiser? I'm toast.

Let's get this over with FAST. Please contribute!

[polemikos]

He called it "irresponsible and damaging to the State of Israel,"

As if the Left cared about that.