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Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres: Disengagement Plan is not yet a "done deal".
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05/09
The Jerusalem Post |
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| By israelinsider staff and partners May 9, 2005 |
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Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres has said that he is not convinced the "disengagement plan" will be carried out, saying that it is not yet a "done deal".
According to Peres, a number of factors could interrupt the plan, which is scheduled to be implemented in less than three months' time. The first, he said, is the decision to destroy the homes in the settlements to be left behind.
"If we destroy the homes, it will lengthen the process by three months, since according to international law we will need to clean up the debris. We are talking about 12 million tons. It will take three months to remove, and cost NIS 250 million. Then we have to find a place in Israel to dump it. This alone can spoil it," he said.
Peres said that a three-month delay is only inviting trouble. "In the meantime, what do you think will happen?" he asked. "We will destroy [the homes], and they [the Palestinians] will stand by and applaud? It will create a negative process. We will lose their faith that we stand by dates. And for what, so we are seen on television as destroyers of homes. It doesn't make any sense."
The second factor that may cause a delay, said Peres, is Israel's diplomatic campaign to disqualify Hamas as a valid political party in the July Palestinian Legislative Council elections, a campaign to which Peres said he is opposed.
"I suggest that Israel should not mix in," he said. "Let the Palestinians handle their own affairs; we should not patronize [them]."
In recent weeks, both Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom have been saying in private meetings with various world leaders that Hamas should not be able to participate in the elections before it disarms, and that a political party in a democracy cannot also support a terrorist militia.
"If we leave Gaza, it will be an achievement. If we don't, it will be a tragedy," he said. "In my eyes the withdrawal from Gaza is a condition for a continuation of the diplomatic process."
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