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In this photo made available by the Israeli government press office, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon delivers a televised speech from his office in Jerusalem on Monday. Sharon said that the Gaza pullout is a painful step, both for the nation and for himself, but that it is essential for Israel's future. (AP)
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08/16
The Jerusalem Post |
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08/16
Israel National News |
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners August 16, 2005 |
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In his first public explanation since the start of the pullout, PM Ariel Sharon said Monday in his address to the nation that the plan is essential, both due to demographic realities, and in order to ultimately receive international legitimization for Israel's hand in the global war on terrorism. Among those who disagreed, former FM Binyamin Netanyahu called the plan a "double tragedy" since Israel is not receiving peace, but terror in exchange for the withdrawal.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday that the Gaza pullout is a painful step, both for the nation and for himself, but that it is essential for Israel's future.
A grim-looking Sharon said in a pre-taped 5-minute television and radio address that it is now up to the Palestinians to clamp down on terrorists and stop violence. "To an outstretched hand we will respond with an olive branch, but to fire we will respond with fire more intense than ever before."
Media critics expressed astonishment that Sharon delivered a tape to broadcast stations rather than addressing the nation live. One commentators quipped that only he and bin-Laden were the only leaders who communicated to their people in that manner.
For most of his political career, Sharon had led Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza. As recently as two years ago, he said Israel would not give up even small, isolated Gaza settlements.
"But the changing reality in the nation, region and world made me change my mind and change my position," Sharon said Monday. "We cannot hold Gaza forever. More that a million Palestinians live there, doubling their numbers every generation."
In his brief address, he appealed directly to the settlers. "Your pain and your tears are an inseparable part of this country's history," he said, pledging that "we won't abandon you" after the evacuation.
As anticipated, Sharon did not proffer an apology to the settlers who are to be evacuated, as President Moshe Katsav did last week. Instead, he praised the settlers for their years of sacrifice, telling them, "Today marks the end of a glorious chapter in the story of Israel, and a central chapter in the story of your lives as pioneers, as those who realized a dream and as those who bore the security and settlement burden for all of us."
Sharon also addressed the soldiers and policemen who were to carry out the evacuation orders, reminding them that "It's not an enemy you face, rather your brothers and sisters. Sensitivity and patience are the order of the hour. I am certain that this is how you will behave. I want you to know the entire nation stands behind you and is proud of you."
Acknowledging that his plan has "caused severe wounds, bitter hatred between brothers and severe statements and actions," Sharon said that he understood "the feelings, the pain and the cries of those who object. However, we are one nation even when fighting and arguing.
"The responsibility for the future of Israel rests on my shoulders," he said. "I initiated the plan because I concluded that this action was vital for Israel. Believe me, the extent of pain that I feel at this act is equal only to the measure of resolved recognition that it was something that had to be done."
"We are alighting on a new path on which there are not a few dangers. But there also is a ray of light for us all," he said.
Following the broadcast of the speech, Channels 1 and 2 gave equal time to former Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Sharon's main political rival. In the Channel 2 interview, Netanyahu said that disengagement would lead to a terror base in Gaza.
He said that Israel must now make it clear to the Arabs and the world that disengagement represented a departure from Israel's policy, and that "we will not return to this path, we will not give something for nothing."
Netanyahu said that the pain of those evacuated from Yamit in 1982 was offset by the fact that Israel got something in return from the Egyptians. "We received a peace agreement, security arrangements with the Egyptians. We got something. Here you are giving for nothing, and in return we will get terror. That is a double tragedy."
Shinui head Yosef Lapid criticized Sharon's speech, saying it contained nothing new and was void of pathos.
"The prime minister didn't say anything new, didn't apologize, and stood behind his positions," Lapid said in an Israel Radio interview. "I can't say I was disappointed, but he didn't tell me anything new. Perhaps he could have expressed a little more emotion. My impression was that he is genuinely pained by the disengagement, but I felt less that he feels the pain of those being harmed, because they are bothering him."
MK Uri Ariel (National Union), who is living in Kfar Darom, responded to Sharon's address, "We anticipated hearing a sound explanation for the disengagement plan, for a first time, but it did not occur.
"His address did not include a logical explanation for the expulsion, and certainly, it did not address security and diplomatic considerations for the residents who he sent, who built and fortified the area during the past years."
The AP contributed to this report.
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