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The Day After the Gaza War
(Israel Hayom-JNS) Amb. Ron Dermer interviewed by Alex Traiman - Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, currently Minister of Strategic Affairs and a member of Israel's war cabinet, said, 20 years ago, a BBC reporter asked Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashwari, "'Mrs. Ashwari, you're not going to get a state unless you fight terrorism and make peace with Israel.' And what she said is, 'No. The question of a Palestinian state and peace with Israel are two separate things.'" "And it was something of a eureka moment for me because it was so clear to me exactly what their strategy is. Their goal is to establish a state to continue the conflict...to get the world to recognize a Palestinian state without them giving up anything in return. And my plea to everybody who supports a two-state solution is: Do not separate statehood from peace. Because if you do, there will never be peace. They will get their state, and they will continue the conflict." "Years ago...I was asked about Israel's position on a Palestinian state. So being Jewish, I answered the question with a question and I asked the audience, 'How many of you support a Palestinian state and a two-state solution?' And in that audience, I would say about 90% supported it." "Then, I said, 'Well, how many of you support the Palestinians having an army?' No hands went up. 'And how many of you think the Palestinians should control half the airspace between the Jordan and the Mediterranean?' No hands went up. 'How many of you think they should control their borders so they can bring in any weapons they want?' No hands went up. 'How many of you think they should have military pacts with Iran?' No hands went up." "So I said, 'Basically, what you're saying is you want the Palestinians to have all the powers to govern themselves, but you don't want them to have the powers that could threaten Israel.' And that's the position of the prime minister."