|
|
December 13, 2002
The next prime minister?
New Labor chair open to negotiating about Jerusalem.
EDGAR ASHER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Haifa mayor, and now the newly elected chairman of the Israel Labor
party, Amram Mitzna, took time out from his electioneering Nov.
27 to meet with representatives of the foreign press in Israel.
As confident and relaxed as Mitzna seems, with his views expressed
in very good English, he seems to be talking in a vacuum, hardly
reflecting the undoubted move to the right of many of his Labor
colleagues and certainly most of the Israeli electorate.
The new Labor leader and former Israel Defence Forces general, who
has twice been elected as mayor of Haifa, has had no parliamentary
experience whatsoever, but he certainly feels that this should be
no impediment to his becoming prime minister. He cites his experience
as mayor of one of Israel's biggest cities and the fact that he
was OC Central Command during his many years in the army as giving
him the credentials to become Labor's candidate for prime minister.
The Labor party members who elected him last month also thought
this, giving him an impressive majority over former party leader
and defence minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer.
Everything is new for Mitzna, and he spoke of "new responsibility,"
"new hope," "new horizons" and "a new future."
"We have no choice – despite the terror we have to speak
to our enemies," Mitzna told the journalists. "We have
to tell the Palestinians that they don't have any other choice either....
I will call the Palestinians to come back to the negotiating table
without preconditions. But we will continue to fight terrorism like
there is no negotiation and we will negotiate like there is no terrorism.
If there is no response from the Palestinians, then we will have
to disengage ourselves completely from them."
Mitzna said that after he is elected he will, over the period of
one year, remove all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
When asked if he would negotiate with Yasser Arafat, Mitzna replied,
"Arafat is leading the terrorism against Israel. Arafat has
positioned himself as an enemy to the people of Israel. But, as
I said before, you make peace with enemies and, therefore, once
I am elected I will call the Palestinians to come back to the negotiating
table and we will negotiate with a Palestinian leadership that will
be able to deliver the goods, to talk openly, sincerely and bravely
to reach an agreement."
Mitzna's reply – that seems to indicate that he would, under
certain circumstances, talk with Arafat – is a position that
is totally opposite to both Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Netanyahu.
Neither of these men would negotiate with Arafat under any circumstances
– at least that is what they have said.
Without spelling it out in detail, Mitzna indicated that if he were
in charge, there would be an adjustment in the Israel-Palestinian
border on the West Bank. He said that there is still a tremendous
amount to be done in the Galilee and the Negev and many of the settlers
living in the West Bank could help to populate these areas. When
asked how he would get the West Bank settlers to leave, he said,
"I'm sure that most of them will obey legal decisions taken
by the government of Israel. The Israelis know that we have to make
very deep and painful concessions for peace and also people need
leadership in this direction and I will do it."
Mitzna was unequivocal when it came to the fight against terror.
"We have to fight terror with all the force we have,"
he said. "What the government is doing now, I would do the
same. The difference in my policy is that while fighting terrorism
we will negotiate."
Most of the topics that Mitzna spoke about were expressed in generalities.
When questioned about the future of Jerusalem, he said, "We
will have to negotiate about Jerusalem. We will have to make arrangements
in Jerusalem, which means disengagement, even in Jerusalem."
Only time will tell, but a politician who is prepared to even discuss
sovereignty over Jerusalem will surely find that this is not a vote
winner.
Edgar Asher is with Isranet News and Media Service.
^TOP
|
|
