Ariel Sharon’s last interview, the day before his stroke, is on Ynet, and well worth reading in full. Highlights:
On Jerusalem: “Jerusalem will be forever a united and undivided capital of Israel. ”
On kassams: “The first responsibility is on the PA to stop terror. The problem is they are not taking any steps whatsoever. The road map says very clearly that to move forward there should be full cessation of terror hostilities and incitement.”
On the West Bank: “We are not going to face now also not in the future any unilateral disengagement. ”
On Hamas in the PA legislature: “Hamas is a terror organization with a covenant that speaks about the elimination of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. They are not partners for negotiations. And if, for instance, Hamas’ weapons would have been collected and if (portions of) Hamas’ covenant would have been banned, then, it is a different situation. I don’t see any steps whatsoever by Mahmoud Abbas to try and reach such a position. As to the Hamas terrorists, we will deal with them the way we deal with them now.”
On the Golan Heights: “I don’t see any situation where Israel will not be sitting on the Golan Heights. For 19 years the northern part of Israel was under heavy war of attrition. We are not going to return to this situation, although Israel will never attack Syria.”
There you have it: A blueprint for Kadima, if Sharon doesn’t recover from the stroke.
Well, thats a good blueprint. Does anyone have the dignitas and gravitas to see it carried through, since Sharon is unable to be at the helm?
Back in November, Arutz Sheva had a list of Kadima platform points that included:
*A Palestinian state should be established in Judea and Samaria.
*Jerusalem and Jewish settlement blocs must remain under Israeli sovereignty.
According to Arutz Sheva’s Huberman:
“But even if we assume that Sharon wants to keep the maximum area in all these cases, it still means that Israel will retain no more than 10% of Judea and Samaria. This means that when Ariel Sharon says he wants to keep settlement blocs, it means he wants to give away 90% of the area. This is practically the same as Yossi Beilin’s and Labor’s plans, not including Jerusalem [which the latter agree to divide].
Pingback: Soccer Dad
Pingback: Israpundit
Pingback: Israel Perspectives: Feeling 'Right' at Home