A Talk with Dov Weissglas: On The Peace Process, Netanyahu’s Coalition & What Lies Ahead

Dov Weissglas

These are some key excerpts from the phone conference to listen to the full call click here

Dov Weissglas was the Bureau Chief for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and a Special Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister From May 2002 to June 2006.  He was responsible for the prime minister's contact with the White House, State Department and other branches of the U.S. administration, as well as to the heads of major European countries.

Netanyahu and the Peace Process

Question: How would you assess the diplomatic handling of the peace process with the Netanyahu government and what is wrong with the Netanyahu governments approach?”

Answer: Netanyahu is a victim of his own political efforts; he composed a coalition that made it almost impossible to pursue the peace process. After the Bill Clinton and Ehud Barack initiative in 2,000 the Israelis were willing to give up about 95% percent of the West Bank. The initiative also included the partition of the Jerusalem according to neighborhoods. However, the Palestinians see no reason why they should agree to less now than what they had been offer a
decade ago.

Netanyahu and his Coalition

Question: Are you saying Netanyahu’s coalition is preventing him from going forward?

Answer: Netanyahu would go under the same kind of process that Sharon would go under. Sharon had the courage to challenge his political constituency, when he decided to pull out form Gaza is a need. First time this idea was presented in mid-October 2003 (one of his advisors said that in 3 months you will have no government, in 6 months you will have no Knesset, in 9 months you will have no party and in 12 months you will be back home, Sharon responded: ‘it is okay I have a beautiful home.’

Question: Neither the Palestine’s nor the Americans have been very successful in appealing to the American government.

Answer: America was not clear enough with Israel. Every Prime Minister is reinventing the wheel. The June 2009 speech by Netanyahu was an unclear version of a clear speech that had been adopted in May 2003.We start the peace process all over again every four years when there is a political change in Israel.

The Quartet

Question: You don’t think that these emerging talks with the Quartet will have any hope.

Answer: Nope, the gap is the kind that can not be abridged unless the Palestinian’s make a huge step back and give us a gigantic discount or vice versa. Current there is no such contact between the Israelis and Palestinians. When I was in the government the Relationship had become very open and candid.

Question: President Clinton: made it clear that this offer disappears when I leave office. Should current leaders do something similar?

Answer: Bill Clinton put on the table what he did and Barak agreed, but than the intifada took over. The problem is this solution has been proposed to the Palestinian’s 2.5 times. We got this offer when we were really bad kids, when we were an un-trustable so why should we accept this offer now? If the Olmert plan was proposed to the Palestinian’s was proposed to them now they probably would take it.

Life in Palestine seems to be very stable, and so far previous success has provided security and stability for both the Palestinians and Israelis. There is always something good in the bad.

Hamas

Question: Where does Hamas enter into this equation?

Answer: Hamas is a reality, a very bitter enemy, a very radical group, still talks about destroying Israel, still using the vocabulary from the 1960s and 1970s . . . I see no solutions with Hamas. The correct work with the PA will however, keep them [Hamas] in Gaza. The real security threat is the West Bank, not Gaza.

Note: This phone conference took place on October 26, 2011.