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July 5, 2002/Tamuz 25 5762, Vol. 54, No. 42
Create a state, add the 'Quartet'
SHIMON PERES
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Labor Party believes that the way to avoid a threat to Israel's existence if turned into a binational state without a Jewish majority is to create a nonmilitarized Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel.
Labor looks upon an end to Israeli control over the Palestinian people as a measure consistent with the moral code of Jewish history and in the political and security interests of the State of Israel.
These goals can be accomplished only through separation by mutual agreement.
An agreement relating to a shared political horizon may lead to a real cease-fire, paving the road to permanent peace.
When the Palestinian side rejected the proposals of President Clinton at Camp David, it posed a serious question in the minds of many as to whether a Palestinian partner really existed for the peace process.
It seems that in the wake of the skepticism generated by this rejection, it is necessary to introduce an additional partner into the equation, to impart credibility to the negotiations and confidence in their resolutions.
Such a partner already exists - the "Quartet" that was formed in Madrid by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
The mounting dangers in the Middle East - ballistic threats from outside the geographical range of the Middle East, across-border terror and unconventional weapons - elicit the urgent and consolidated intervention of the "Quartet," so as to generate a renewed peace momentum.
A peace plan must consist of elements that are acceptable in Israel, and which will not be rejected by the Arab world. Such a prospect is being made possible by the Saudi peace proposals and the understandings reached with the Palestinians.
The Peres-Abu Alaa understandings reached between ourselves and the Palestinian representatives, under the leadership of Abu Alaa, the speaker of the Palestinian legislative council, did not provoke either formal approval or rejection, and exist by dint of the force of logic that closes ideological distances within Israel and bridges political gaps between ourselves and our neighbors.
These understandings are based on four stages:
- Stage I (a prerequisite): The creation of a single Palestinian security arm that will dismantle the fragmented Palestinian armed factions that enable extremist organizations to threaten peace, undermine Palestinian autonomy and provoke Israel into exercising its right for self-defense. Also, only by operating a single Palestinian headquarters that will consolidate overall control over arms and triggers will it be possible to achieve a real cease-fire.
- Stage II: Mutual recognition between the State of Israel and the Palestinian state within a short period of time (a few weeks). Israel will recognize the Palestinian Authority as a Palestinian state, the boundaries of which will be determined through negotiations based on U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338, and the Palestinians will recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
- Stage III: Negotiations that will be ongoing for a year, with the aim of finding solutions to controversial issues - border lines, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements, security measures.
- Stage IV: Will be dedicated to the implementation of the agreements reached, which will take a further year. The accords and agreements reached will be endorsed by the "Quartet," largely representing world consensus.
This kind of endorsement has real enforcement power, for a breach of agreement could trigger international delegitimization and even affect aid allocations.
There is no need for outside military intervention to arrive at an agreement or enforce its implementation. An army is unable to function except on a battlefield or to control a situation that will ensue from an accord between the sides. An army cannot replace an agreement, nor can it function when an agreement is absent.
It is not difficult to foresee the demands of the "Quartet'': disarm the Palestinian terror organizations and create a central headquarters that will have sole control over arms, put an end to terror, stop the incitement, freeze settlement activity, ensure Israeli withdrawal to outside of the Palestinian territories, ensure financial transparency and release of funds; a removal of roadblocks, opening of borders, erection of joint industrial zones, open labor markets, economic rehabilitation of the Palestinian entity and the development of a modern economy for all the peoples - based on global market prerequisites, European Union regulations, American free trade zone stipulations and a market resting on openness, competition, transparency and growth.
Shimon Peres is the foreign minister of Israel. A former prime minister of Israel, he is also the former head of the Labor Party.
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