WEYMOUTH: What do you expect to come out of the summit? BARAK: It should put an end to violence and make certain that it will not resume. Arafat must put back in prison the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists he recently released. He must stop Palestinian policemen and members of the Tanzim [a paramilitary force under Arafat’s control] from shooting at Israeli soldiers. He must also put an end to the incitement [practiced] by the Palestinian mass media.
Did Arafat initiate the violence? We hold the Palestinian Authority responsible for the whole round of violence. Acording to the Oslo agreement, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were meant to be behind bars; Palestinian policemen were meant to have weapons to keep public order, not to shoot at Israelis. The systematic violations of all agreements should end.
You offered Arafat a generous deal at the Camp David summit last July. Why is he turning to violence? I cannot penetrate his soul. He’s using violence, and we will not reward this behavior… I was ready to contemplate ideas that had never been contemplated by any previous Israeli government in order to find a partner. But if there is none, we will fight with the same determination to defend our people and our right to live.
Is Oslo dead? It seems that Arafat is unripe for a peace agreement. I will never lose hope for peace. I know ultimately we will have peace. [The Palestinian] leadership can… change or be replaced.
Should Arafat be replaced? I’m not predicting what will happen… If he closes his eyes or gives a green light to terror, he will face us fighting.
Are you going to form an emergency government or a unity government? We are going to establish a wider government to deal with the emergency situation we are in… An emergency government means we do not form a coalition, but we bring other parties into the government.
So Ariel Sharon will be a member of the inner cabinet [the executive body that runs the crisis] in a couple of days? If he’s ready. The right wing [joining the government] doesn’t mean the end of the peace process. It means a united Israel against the violence we are facing.
What should the U.S. do? The U.S. should reveal the truth about what led to this situation, where Israel is willing to contemplate far-reaching ideas that were raised by the United States in order to reach peace, and the other side refuses. We live in a very tough neighborhood, where violence encourages more violence. This is an area where we have to fight after the lynching and mutilation of two Israeli soldiers who mistakenly entered Ramallah. You see what kind of neighbors we have. We expect the leaders of the free world never to create a moral equivalence between Israel and this irresponsible group which now leads the Palestinian people.
Are you almost at war? I hope not. There is no reason for a major war just because Arafat cannot fulfill 100 percent of his dream. We are here, and the unfortunate attempt to erase Israel in 1948 [when the Arab armies combined to fight Israel] failed. I think that Arafat should reach an agreement with us. But since he has failed to do so, we are quite probably at the end of this process.
In retrospect, were the concessions you offered at Camp David a mistake? They were a prerequisite for achieving peace. Without this kind of readiness, I would never be able to convince my own people that we have done whatever could be done in order to avoid confrontation.
What is Syria doing? We hold them responsible for what happened in Lebanon [the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers by Hizbullah terrorists] last week.
Why did you extend last week’s ultimatum to the Palestinians to halt the violence? I realized that we are entering into a long, tough conflict, and we will need a lot of perseverance and unity. So it doesn’t change things if we enter it two or three days later. If there is any chance we could avoid it, we should try.
Do you still have an ultimatum on stopping the violence? It is over. I already ordered our Air Force helicopter gunships to surgically hit installations of Chairman Arafat as a response to the lynching, and we will continue. These attacks did not cause a single death. We believe that Palestinian blood just serves Arafat.
Summit or no summit, you’ll continue attacks on his infrastructure? If during the meeting he puts Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists back in prison, if he stops the Palestinian police force from shooting at us and stops the incitement, we would prefer a peaceful settlement.
And if not? Then we know what to do.
