“The Oslo agreements were a sham. Although the language did not promise a settlement freeze, the understanding on the Palestinian side was that Oslo would eventually lead to Israeli withdrawal from the territories. In fact, the accords turned into a state-run land grab of astounding proportions, leaving many Palestinians feeling that the Israelis had bargained in bad faith.” – Dec. 6, 2001 – Robert I. Friedman
The 2001 secret video of Benjamin Netanyahu speaking candidly about his thoughts, actions and subversion of the Peace process was released just after his return from “Israel’s best friend”, America. Well, no more late night wondering what Bibi is up to, the video speaks volumes.
According to Netanyahu, the failure of Oslo was not the fault of the Palestinians as Israel publicly claims, but he sole-handedly created a loophole which made the Accord worth less than the paper it was written on. The Oslo Accords would allow the Palestinians to gain control over three phases. The exception gave control to Israel over the settlements and military sites. Netanyahu bartered his support of the Hebron Agreement to allow Israel to define what a military site it. As Netanyahu puts it “no one said what defined military sites. Defined military sites, I said, were security zones. As far as I’m concerned, the Jordan Valley is a defined military site”. In short order, the Ministry of Higher Education turned 43 schools within the occupied territories into military installations and the race was on to build settlements as quickly as possible.
Netanyahy also discusses on how to deal with the Arabs. “The main thing, first of all, is to hit them. Not just one blow, but blows that are so painful that the price will be too heavy to be borne. The price is not too heavy to be borne, now. A broad attack on the Palestinian Authority. To bring them to the point of being afraid that everything is collapsing…”. He continues on to say “the world won’t say a thing. The world will say we are defending”.
The most enlightening portion during the exchange, well known but never discussed; is the contempt he holds for his American benefactors. After Bibi’s candid “I know what America is. America is something that can easily be moved. Moved to the right direction” statement, Americans no longer have to contemplate who really controls America when it comes to the Middle East.
The most distrubing aspect of the release of the video is not Benjamin Netanyahu’s true character coming to light. It is the harm this deceit has perpetuated upon the peace process. It has irrevocably damaged Israel’s credibility. Any support of a two-state settlement by the Israeli government is suspect and any negotiation towards a solution will no longer be viewed as sincere.
In the meanwhile, the Palestinian people are denied fundamental human rights 6,300 Palestinianshave been killed between 2000 – 2010 and the United States has been held in contempt by the leadership they have supported unequivocally. Even now just today the United States Congress has requested the largest amount in military aid to the Israeli government in order to “assist Israel’s ‘tough’ peace talks decisions”. The deceit and fraud exercised in the name of peace is overwhelming and envokes sadness, hopelessness and despair not only towards the Palestinians, but also to the imminent self destruction of the State of Israel.
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