Show me the Money
19th February 2003, 11:20
Netanyahu: Arafat must be treated like Saddam
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Feb. 19, 2003
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In order for the US to win its war on terrorism, the same standard Saddam Hussein is being held to must be used to remove Yasser Arafat, Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.
Speaking in Jerusalem to a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu said Israel's guiding principle, and the principle guiding the US in its campaign against Iraq, is "no tolerance for terror and no tolerance for regimes that spawn terror."
Netanyahu said Israel must fight against the notion that conflict is what gives birth to terrorism, since there are many conflicts in the world that are terror-free. Rather, he said, "Total dictatorial regimes that brainwash their children are what spawns terror."
"And if you want to stop terrorism," he said, "you have to take out those regimes and defeat this ideology."
In Netanyahu's mind the true test will come after Iraq. "This is the crux," he said, "Will there be a consistent application of the principle I described, or an abdication? Will there be a single standard or a double standard?"
If the world opts for a single standard, he said, "I think what applies in Iraq should apply here as well. What applies in Iraq, that a brutal terrorist should be removed and democratization should be introduced, should be applied in the Palestinian dictatorship as well."
The consequences of a double standard, of not forcing Arafat's removal and fundamental changes in Palestinian society, is not only bad for Israel, but for the entire world, Netanyahu asserted. "Because if you start losing that clarity of principle, you will lose the battle."
Netanyahu said that in order to begin a process of democratization in regimes that foster terrorism, as was done in Nazi Germany and imperial Japan, the existing terror-supporting regimes must be utterly defeated and tossed out. It does no good, he said, to replace one dictator with another.
Netanyahu said that when he was prime minister he was able to prevent rampant Palestinian terrorism through deterrence, and the Palestinian leadership knew if it waged a terrorist campaign it would be removed.
Following Israel's retreat from Lebanon and Ehud Barak's willingness to negotiate under fire with Arafat, it has become impossible to restore this level of deterrence with the present Palestinian regime, he said.
"At this time, the application of deterrence will not work anymore," Netanyahu said, adding that a Palestinian regime change is also needed so that the notion of deterrence of having something to lose could be instilled in the new regime.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau chief, Dov Weisglass, told the conference the type of prime minister Arafat seems intent on appointing constitutes anything but regime change.
Basing himself on reports in the Palestinian press, Weisglass said Arafat seems to see a new prime minister as a symbolic role under the president, similar to the French or Russian model.
This type of prime minister, Weisglass said, "will have major authority to walk the dog.... If this is what Arafat has in mind," he said, "it is a waste of time."
Weisglass said one of Israel's major problems with the road map to a diplomatic process, currently being discussed again by envoys from the Quartet the US, EU, UN, and Russia at a meeting in London, is that it does not stress the need to remove Arafat.
"As long as Arafat holds his position," Weisglass said, "nothing will happen."
Another key problem Israel has with the road map, Weisglass said, is that although it is clearly performance-based, the Quartet itself will make up the body determining when one side has fulfilled its obligations under the plan.
Weisglass said he believes that the rift between the US and Europe over Iraq, as well as Belgium's recent Supreme Court decision that Sharon can stand trial there for alleged war crimes after he leaves office, will strengthen Israel's position that the US should lead any body determining when the sides move from one phase to the next in the road map.
Netanyahu was even more blunt, saying that the US-European crisis, and what happened in Belgium, "has not exactly fortified the confidence of anyone on the Israeli side, and I suspect many on American side, of the impartiality of Europe as potential facilitator in resolving the Palestinian conflict."
In a related development, Weisglass is to arrive in the US today with a group of senior Finance Ministry officials to discuss Israel's request for $8 billion in loan guarantees and $4b. in military aid.
Netanyahu said the rationale for asking for the package now has to do with increased tensions in the region as a result of the looming US campaign against Iraq.
"Israel is paying a very heavy economic price for the increased tensions," Netanyahu said, mentioning the substantial funds needed for civil defense, increased readiness in case of a war, and the loss of business because of the tension.
As such, he said, "it is only natural that the US is trying to compensate some of its allies for the economic cost of the impending US operation and the cost of additional defense."
In an obvious reference to concerns that the US may, as it has done in the past, tie the aid to the government's policies in the settlements, Netanyahu said, "There are always conditions on the payment of loans, and I certainly hope they will not be political conditions. There are schedules for payments, guarantees for guarantees, that is perfectly sensible. This is on the economic side. I hope it remains in that realm."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feb. 19, 2003
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order for the US to win its war on terrorism, the same standard Saddam Hussein is being held to must be used to remove Yasser Arafat, Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.
Speaking in Jerusalem to a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu said Israel's guiding principle, and the principle guiding the US in its campaign against Iraq, is "no tolerance for terror and no tolerance for regimes that spawn terror."
Netanyahu said Israel must fight against the notion that conflict is what gives birth to terrorism, since there are many conflicts in the world that are terror-free. Rather, he said, "Total dictatorial regimes that brainwash their children are what spawns terror."
"And if you want to stop terrorism," he said, "you have to take out those regimes and defeat this ideology."
In Netanyahu's mind the true test will come after Iraq. "This is the crux," he said, "Will there be a consistent application of the principle I described, or an abdication? Will there be a single standard or a double standard?"
If the world opts for a single standard, he said, "I think what applies in Iraq should apply here as well. What applies in Iraq, that a brutal terrorist should be removed and democratization should be introduced, should be applied in the Palestinian dictatorship as well."
The consequences of a double standard, of not forcing Arafat's removal and fundamental changes in Palestinian society, is not only bad for Israel, but for the entire world, Netanyahu asserted. "Because if you start losing that clarity of principle, you will lose the battle."
Netanyahu said that in order to begin a process of democratization in regimes that foster terrorism, as was done in Nazi Germany and imperial Japan, the existing terror-supporting regimes must be utterly defeated and tossed out. It does no good, he said, to replace one dictator with another.
Netanyahu said that when he was prime minister he was able to prevent rampant Palestinian terrorism through deterrence, and the Palestinian leadership knew if it waged a terrorist campaign it would be removed.
Following Israel's retreat from Lebanon and Ehud Barak's willingness to negotiate under fire with Arafat, it has become impossible to restore this level of deterrence with the present Palestinian regime, he said.
"At this time, the application of deterrence will not work anymore," Netanyahu said, adding that a Palestinian regime change is also needed so that the notion of deterrence of having something to lose could be instilled in the new regime.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau chief, Dov Weisglass, told the conference the type of prime minister Arafat seems intent on appointing constitutes anything but regime change.
Basing himself on reports in the Palestinian press, Weisglass said Arafat seems to see a new prime minister as a symbolic role under the president, similar to the French or Russian model.
This type of prime minister, Weisglass said, "will have major authority to walk the dog.... If this is what Arafat has in mind," he said, "it is a waste of time."
Weisglass said one of Israel's major problems with the road map to a diplomatic process, currently being discussed again by envoys from the Quartet the US, EU, UN, and Russia at a meeting in London, is that it does not stress the need to remove Arafat.
"As long as Arafat holds his position," Weisglass said, "nothing will happen."
Another key problem Israel has with the road map, Weisglass said, is that although it is clearly performance-based, the Quartet itself will make up the body determining when one side has fulfilled its obligations under the plan.
Weisglass said he believes that the rift between the US and Europe over Iraq, as well as Belgium's recent Supreme Court decision that Sharon can stand trial there for alleged war crimes after he leaves office, will strengthen Israel's position that the US should lead any body determining when the sides move from one phase to the next in the road map.
Netanyahu was even more blunt, saying that the US-European crisis, and what happened in Belgium, "has not exactly fortified the confidence of anyone on the Israeli side, and I suspect many on American side, of the impartiality of Europe as potential facilitator in resolving the Palestinian conflict."
In a related development, Weisglass is to arrive in the US today with a group of senior Finance Ministry officials to discuss Israel's request for $8 billion in loan guarantees and $4b. in military aid.
Netanyahu said the rationale for asking for the package now has to do with increased tensions in the region as a result of the looming US campaign against Iraq.
"Israel is paying a very heavy economic price for the increased tensions," Netanyahu said, mentioning the substantial funds needed for civil defense, increased readiness in case of a war, and the loss of business because of the tension.
As such, he said, "it is only natural that the US is trying to compensate some of its allies for the economic cost of the impending US operation and the cost of additional defense."
In an obvious reference to concerns that the US may, as it has done in the past, tie the aid to the government's policies in the settlements, Netanyahu said, "There are always conditions on the payment of loans, and I certainly hope they will not be political conditions. There are schedules for payments, guarantees for guarantees, that is perfectly sensible. This is on the economic side. I hope it remains in that realm."