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Sharon backs Ya'alon remarks on `cancerous Palestinian threatWednesday 02 Oct 2002
author: Aluf Benn, Ha'aretz
summary
IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon's controversial remarks earlier this week were "true and correct" and described "the situation as it is," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday.
Saturday, August 31, 2002 Elul 23, 5762 Israel Time: 22:45 (GMT+3)
Sharon backs Ya'alon remarks on `cancerous Palestinian threat'
By Aluf Benn
IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon's controversial remarks earlier this week were "true and correct" and described "the situation as it is," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday.
Ya'alon, both at a conference organized by the chief rabbis on Sunday and in an interview with Ha'aretz Magazine, described the Palestinian threat as "cancerous," said the current Palestinian leadership does not recognize Israel's right to exist, and that a unilateral withdrawal from the territories would constitute giving in to terrorism.
Sharon said the criticism of Ya'alon stems from political considerations, and that had the chief of staff said the opposite, he would undoubtedly have been praised by the left.
Regarding an IDF plan for an interim agreement with the Palestinians that includes evacuating isolated settlements, first reported in yesterday's Ha'aretz, Sharon's office said that "if it indeed exists, it was never brought to the attention of the prime minister or his aides." The Ha'aretz report said it had been submitted to two former top Sharon aides, Uri Shani and Major General Moshe Kaplinsky. But a government source said both denied knowing anything about such a plan.
Sharon said that diplomatic progress would be possible once the violence stops, but that has not happened. The mortar fire in Gaza is growing worse, he said; the Palestinians are doing nothing to prevent terror; and there have as yet been no serious changes in the Palestinian security establishment.
The premier said he was worried by efforts to "revive" Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. He said that Egypt is trying to persuade the Americans that progress is impossible without Arafat, and it is being aided and abetted in this effort by many Israelis - private individuals, former officials and even current officials who "are running to the Egyptians." One prominent recent Israeli visitor to Cairo was Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet security service. Ayalon declined to comment.
Sharon said that any reform of the PA in which Arafat is involved will be a fiction, as the chairman will not permit reforms that threaten his supremacy. It is therefore imperative, he said, to stick to the plan of sidelining Arafat outlined by U.S. President George Bush.
Sharon did not comment on Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer's "Gaza First" plan for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from areas of the territories where quiet prevails, beyond noting that he had proposed a similar deal to Arafat last year. Sharon's office said that though Ben-Eliezer is currently busy fighting for his political life, they believe he can defeat Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna in the Labor Party leadership race.
Sharon said he is worried by recent incidences of Arab Israeli involvement in terror and by the things said at the Islamic Movement's recent conference on the Temple Mount, since Jews and Arabs ultimately have to live together. He said he believes that most Israeli Arabs want to be part of Israeli society, and that in private conversations with Israeli Arab leaders, he has therefore urged them to stop talking about separation. He rejected the idea that successive Israeli governments are solely responsible for Arab disaffection, saying that while it is true that more should be done, there have nevertheless been impressive accomplishments.
Regarding the possibility of an American attack on Iraq, the prime minister said he believes this should be discussed only in closed forums, rather than in the media. The U.S., he added, has also requested that Israel keep a low profile on this issue.