Back in September 2007, when the Likud was in the opposition, opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu spoke in the Knesset of the dangers of Prime Minister Olmert’s intention to give away most of Judea and Samaria. He was alluding to a new diplomatic initiative being negotiated with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman, Mahmoud Abbas.

Where was the reciprocity?

Netanyahu remorsefully said, “we keep hearing about an international summit in which we will more or less promise to give away more land in another unilateral withdrawal. It wasn’t enough that we retreated in Lebanon and Gaza.” Now another retreat is in the making!

Netanyahu was referring to ongoing negotiations between PM Olmert and PA Chairman Abbas. The goal of the talks, he ruefully remarked, is to reach an agreement in principle of a withdrawal from nearly all of Judea and Samaria, in exchange for peaceful relations with a Palestinian state to be formed there.

“So Olmert will say,” Netanyahu continued, “that [the withdrawal] is not unilateral, because now we have a partner.”

“And who is the partner? Abu Mazen. He’s a partner!?” – Netanyahu contemptuously added.

Netanyahu took up the subject of reciprocity.

Reciprocity is when you get something back in exchange for what you give. But what will we receive? Will we receive the complete nullification of the “right of return” [of Arab refugees to Israel]? We know that we will not. Will we receive sovereignty over Jerusalem? No, we know that [our government] has ceded this. And it keeps on going; with every Olmert-Abbas meeting, another 100 terrorists are freed, and that’s when they meet here; when they meet in the US they’re going to be talking about thousands! … Not to mention the guns that the PA keeps receiving…

Concessions are Downright Dangerous

“This government just gives and gives,” Netanyahu railed,

and receives nothing – and this will place us in dangers much greater than we have known before, as we see in Sderot; the risks in the Galilee continue as well. Our country will end up endangered by rockets from three directions.

Netanyahu candidly admitted that

Two of our leading politicians [Defense Minister Ehud Barak and PM Olmert] have made terrible mistakes. Barak’s hasty retreat from Lebanon brought Katyushas to the Galilee and Olmert’s major role in the Disengagement from Gaza brought Kassams to the Negev. We warned in the past about Iran’s rockets, and about Hezbollah, and about Hamas, and that Olmert is blind to the dangers, and that we must not let him be in charge of our country – and then just a few months later, our predictions came true when the war in Lebanon broke out.

Such candor is unheard of in Israel.

Indeed, Netanyahu stunningly declared in the Knesset:

I remind you of the promises made by Olmert and other fellow Disengagement-proponents regarding the strong, powerful military response we would carry out if the terrorists fire at us from Gaza. Nu? Where’s the response? … They themselves [Barak and Olmert] realize there is a problem, and they say they can’t withdraw right now [from Judea and Samaria], because then the terrorists will take over and fire at us. This means it won’t bring peace, but will rather bring the rockets closer…

What, then, must we do [asked Netanyahu]? We must first of all realize that at present, there is simply no Palestinian partner. The reason why Judea and Samaria does not turn into Hamastan is because we are still there. We must also create conditions that will make it harder for extremist Muslims to recruit youths to their ranks. In addition, we must have joint economic projects with Jordan.… We know that economic prosperity can create some conditions for peace.

No Mandate; New Elections

Netanyahu also said that Olmert’s low standing in the polls means he has no

moral mandate to make such concessions. Everywhere you go, you hear that people know and realize that these concessions are not the solution. The public wants something else. There’s only one way to solve this, and that is to have new elections. We say to this duo [Barak and Olmert] that has brought us rockets in the Galilee and the Negev, that we don’t want rockets in central Israel as well.

Foreign Minister Responds

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni responded, filling in for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who was not present. Livni’s speech was interrupted countless times by opposition MKs, and in fact, observers noted that she appeared to be tense and hard-pressed to make some of her points.

Minister Livni opened by clarifying that “if there is any agreement with the Palestinians, it will be brought to the government for its approval, and then to the Knesset for ratification as well.” She said that her government’s policies are predicated on two basic principles: “We clearly distinguish between Gaza and Ayosh [an acronym for Judea and Samaria] in the most extreme manner. Gaza is run by terrorists, while the other is led by a moderate democratic government that accepts the two-state solution and is part of the international community…”

“It’s no secret,” she continued, “that I’m in favor of dialogue with those [in the Palestinian Authority] who favor a two-state solution.”

We do not have the option of freezing the situation and waiting for things to change; it’s not good for us or for the pragmatic Palestinians; when there is a window of opportunity, we must take advantage of it and conduct talks, while at the same time preserving our national assets.

Livni’s response leaves us in wonderland or in a deadly quagmire.◙