Interview with Brig. Gen. (ret.) Israela Oron: Netanyahu should "read the map again"

Earlier today, the Pulse interviewed Brig. Gen. (ret.) Israela Oron, former Deputy National Security Advisor at the NSC.

Pulse: What did you think of Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech at Bar Ilan University?

Oron:  From the Prime Minister's point of view it was a significant step toward  the left, especially because he faces and will continue to face in the future a great deal of opposition from his camp, and from his natural allies as he calls them.  This is important to bear in mind.

Pulse: Were there problems in the speech?

Oron: I see a few problems.  First of all, his speech represents a significant delay in understanding the situation regarding the conflict; the things he said were already accepted by many Israeli leaders for almost 15 years. We already understand that the Palestinians should have their own state. He made the point that leaders should be able to read the map of reality. He agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian state, with many conditions attached, because he realizes that the reality has changed.  I would suggest that he read the map again because reality has changed much more than he thinks. He still has much further to go in order to adjust to the real reality. The point he had reached yesterday is not enough.

Pulse: What is not enough?

Oron: Netanyahu is not ready to freeze settlements and if the situation on the ground will not change, if the Palestinians will not be able to sense that they have a real future, they might choose violence again.  And then Bibi will be able to say that he cannot make peace with the Palestinians because he cannot pay a price for terror.

Also his talk of economic peace is not enough. It is not a stand-alone item. There must also be progress in the political arena; economic peace is connected to many other parameters and does not occur in a vacuum.

Pulse: So do you think that Netanyahu went through a genuine change of heart?

Oron: I could sense, and I think it was clear, that Netanyahu does not believe that a Palestinian state is in Israel's interests. He managed to say these words because of how he views changes in the current circumstances and his need to react to them.  There are some who think that the fact that he said it is the most important thing. But if he doesn't believe it, if he said it only because he was pressured to say it, then his level of commitment will reflect that.  And if so, in order to get to the point of actual implementation, much more pressure will be needed from the US and the EU.

Pulse: But you said that it was a big step forward for him?

Oron: Yes, from an internal Israeli perspective, looking at the Israeli political map, it was definitely a big step.  It is not yet clear just how big a step, however. He is the second Likud leader after Sharon to acknowledge that we do not want to rule over another people (Ehud Olmert was already in Kadima when he adopted this principle.) Therefore, since Sharon said it at Latrun it is not such a big deal.  But we have to all realize that Bibi's Likud today is much more rightwing than Sharon's Likud was, and that includes very rightwing ideologues like Benny Begin and Moshe "Bogie" Ayalon.  Given the makeup of the current Likud, this is indeed a significant step forward for Bibi and his party.

Pulse: And what does this mean for those on the left?

Oron:  It means that the left movement in Israel conquered our last front: the Likud.  Even Bibi Netanyahu now adopts the idea that was presented over 40 years ago by Uri Avineri when he called for a Palestinian state.

Brigadier General (ret.) Israela Oron, former Deputy National Security Advisor at the National Security Council (NSC), is an analyst and commentator on security and strategic affairs. Her role at the NSC included leading the council's staff in formulation and implementation of long-term policy plans coping with challenges to internal security. She has headed inter-agency policy planning projects on several issues, including Palestinian refugees. Before joining the NSC, in 2000, she was a director at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Israel, establishing and leading the Organizational Strategy Department.

Gen. Oron served in the IDF for 27 years. In 1991 she was the first woman appointed to the post of Deputy Spokesman, and managed the operations of the unit in the Persian Gulf War. In 1993, she became the first woman faculty member at the IDF National Defense College, where she was responsible for developing and implementing the National Defense College's security strategy studies and curriculum. She completed her military service as head of the Women's Corps, the highest rank attainable for women in the IDF, where she promoted reforms in the IDF and in Israeli society at large.

Over the last year, she has been involved in activities related to peace: She is a member of the steering committee of the Geneva Accord, is leading the refugee team in ECF, and is involved in international think tanks regarding third party involvement. She is a board member of nature preservation and environmental bodies. She has a B.A. from Haifa University and a Master's in Business Administration from Tel Aviv University.