Date:
Monday, December 8, 2014
PM tells US forum Abbas won’t confront fanaticism, claims Israel
helped prevent bad Iran deal, vows not to pass law undermining Israel’s
democratic character
BY RAPHAEL AHREN December 7, 2014, 8:01 pm | The Times of Israel|
Last year’s peace talks with the Palestinian Authority failed not because of Israeli
settlement expansion, but because the Palestinians are simply not ready for peace yet,
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Sunday.
Speaking to the Brookings Institution’s 11th annual Saban Forum in Washington via a prerecorded
video, Netanyahu said continued incitement proved Ramallah was not prepared to make peace
with Israel, and layed out Israel’s three main demands of the Palestinians.
“The talks ended because the Palestinians wanted them to end,” Netanyahu said.
He charged that negotiations broke down because Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas entered a unity government with the Hamas terror group and because the Palestinians
rejected the security arrangements Israel demanded.
“Unfortunately, the Palestinian leadership is simply not prepared, and I hope this changes, but it’s
not yet prepared to truly confront violence and fanaticism within Palestinian society, within their
own ranks,” Netanyahu added.
“For nine months we negotiated with the Palestinians, but they consistently refused to engage us
on our legitimate security concerns, just as they refused to discuss recognizing Israel as the
nationstate of the Jewish people, while at the same time insisting that Israel recognize a nationstate
of the Palestinian people.”
The prime minister accused the PA leadership of fueling violence against Israel. “It engages in
incitement day in and day out,” he said. “I think it’s important to confront this. I don’t think sticking
our head in the sand promotes real peace and I don’t believe that false hopes promote real peace.
I think they just push peace further away.”
Real peace will only come once the Palestinians accept “the three pillars of peace,” Netanyahu
said: recognition of Israel as the nationstate of the Jewish people; an end to all claims, including
the right of return; and a longterm Israeli security presence in the West Bank.
“I will never give up on this triangle of true peace,” he vowed.
In his comments, Netanyahu did not directly address reports of an Israeli strike on military sites in
Syria hours earlier.
But he said Israel was challenged by “unprecedented instability afflicting the entire region.
“Where once seemingly coherent nations and clearly defined borders stood, we now see chaos —
in Iraq, in Syria, in Libya, in Yemen and Lebanon,” he continued.
The collapse of the Middle East’s old order has made “pragmatic Arab governments” understand
that Israel is not their enemy, the prime minister said, saying that Jerusalem and its moderate Arab
neighbors have much to gain by cooperating. “And this cooperation could, in turn, open the door to
peace.”
Netanyahu also said Israel had helped head off a bad deal with Iran last month. “A November 24
deadline for an agreement has come and gone, and that’s fortunate,” he said. “Our voice and our
concerns played a critical role in preventing a bad deal… We must use the time available to
increase the pressure on Iran from developing a nuclear arms capability.”
The major powers and Iran agreed to extend the deadline for a deal in Iran nuclear talks to June
30. Israel has objected persistently to any deal that would leave Iran with uranium enrichment
capacity. The United States and other powers say that a minimal capacity is likely in a final deal.
Despite Israel heading toward new elections, which effectively freezes all current legislation,
Netanyahu also vowed he would not pass any law that “undermines Israel’s democratic
character,” responding to critics of a bill he has pushed enshrining Israel’s character as a Jewish
state.
Israelis are proud to have created “a genuinely democratic state” that guarantees “equal rights for
all its citizens, regardless of race, religion or sex,” he said. “And this will not change. In standing
up for Israel’s identity as the nationstate of the Jewish people, I will never agree to legislation that
undermines Israel’s democratic character. Not now, not ever.”