Its only agenda is more death and destruction and consolidating the occupation and destroying very essence and foundations of peace. |
Maybe this can be an eye-opener for the United States, ... It must understand that some of its assumptions about this region -- the worthlessness of public opinion, the total bias toward Israel -- have affected its credibility and ability to maneuver in this region. |
Nobody should think that he is above the law. Hamas can compete through dialogue, and through political means. Everybody is requesting the PA to preserve law and order, and to build institutions; otherwise we are on the verge of destruction. |
Nobody wants him to resign and I don't think he will. He understands this is a question of the national interest. |
Now it depends on whether he wants to rely on the extreme hard-line, right-wing, ideological, even fundamentalist elements in Israeli society. Or does he want to rely on the 50 percent or more who are committed to peace? |
Now we see a major shift, an unprecedented shift, in Palestinian life. |
Rabin had a greater sense of the historical dimension. He was quite willing to take risks which Barak is not willing to take. Barak seems reluctant, begrudging, hesitant in terms of the peace process. |
Sharon has subverted the whole process by turning it into something sequential and conditional and, of course, by making himself the interpreter of the road map, |
Sharon may be brutal, but so is Barak, |
Sharon was a strong and charismatic leader who steered the politics toward the right and extremism. |
Sharon was a strong and charismatic leader who steered the politics toward the right and extremism. Now it is clear that Israel needs a leadership that proceeds strongly toward peace, or else the extremist right will hijack the situation. |
That is entirely untrue, |
The absence of such a charismatic figure who controls single-handedly the political apparatus will be very significant to the political map. Right now you have a weakened government. The weaker you are, the more insecure you are, and the more hard-line you are. And, of course, during elections you have heightened rhetoric, so we do not expect anything to be benign at this point. |
The new Israeli government must have a peace agenda, and very clearly it does not have a peace agenda, it's [a] policy of anti-peace, |
The occupation is a source of violence that has to stop. |