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World Jewish News
PM 'regrets' outcome of disengagement
02.08.2009
On the fourth Hebrew anniversary of the Gaza disengagement, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday expressed his regret that the territory had become a terror base since Israel's unilateral withdrawal.
"According to the Hebrew calendar, today is the day Israel uprooted approximately 10,000 Israelis - men, women and children - from their homes," he said at the weekly cabinet meeting. "To our regret, Gaza has become a base for Hamas-led, Iran-sponsored terrorism. Thousands of rockets and missiles have been fired at us."
The prime minister said that his government was committed to a "full rehabilitation" of the evacuees "in order to enable them to rebuild their destroyed lives." He said the cabinet would discuss the issue at length during next week's meeting.
Netanyahu reiterated that Israel would not tolerate rocket and missile fire of any kind, neither barrages nor individual attacks, adding that "all firing will be vigorously responded to."
In an apparent criticism of the 2005 disengagement, over which he had been at odds with then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, Netanyahu said, "peace will go back to being based on reciprocity, not unilateralism."
"In the framework of the peace agreements, Israel expects that the Palestinians will recognize the State of Israel as the national state of the Jewish people, that the problem of the refugees will be resolved outside Israel's borders and that there will be effective security arrangements and demilitarization, with international recognition and guarantees," he continued. "These are not preconditions for the start of a peace process, but the basic conditions for establishing a lasting and stable peace. Palestinian moderates should internalize this."
The prime minister emphasized that Israel was willing to open peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, Syria and any other Arab country, without preconditions.
"Whoever sets preconditions for opening negotiations delays the peace process," he said. "We wholeheartedly support President Obama's regional initiative. In the framework of that initiative, the Arab countries, especially the main Arab states, must contribute with normalization steps towards Israel."
On the day Hebron's Zion Route was opened to Palestinian vehicles, the prime minister said Israel would continue to advance economic peace with the Palestinian Authority by dismantling barriers to traffic, business and tourism.
"Whoever is with us in peace will prosper," he said. "I believe that these things have already been recognized during the few months this government [has been in office]."
The opening of the Zion Route, which leads from the Jewish neighborhoods of Hebron to Jabal Juar, followed a commitment made by the state to the High Court of Justice. The route was closed to Palestinian cars in 2001 following shooting attacks against Jewish settlers. The army has promised new security measures will be put in place along the road to ensure the security of the Jewish residents.
Источник: JPost.com
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