Barak calls for Israeli initiative for comprehensive peace

[bemildred]

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to put forward an Israeli peace initiative based on the Arab plan for resolving the Middle East conflict and establishing a Palestinian state.

During a policy review meeting convened by Netanyhau, Barak suggested a formula according to which Israel's security requirements and its demands that it be recognized as a Jewish state could be met. He said there was no way out of a comprehensive regional agreement which included a two-state solution and a solution to the refugee problem, which he said lay within a Palestinian state.

Barak said that there was no reason for a collision with Washington.

"US-Israel ties are deep and close," he said. "We can and need to reach an understanding on all issues on the agenda."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710726944&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[Ken Burch]

1. But Barak just made peace impossible by backing Lieberman and Bibi

Is the man really this delusional?

He should just do the decent thing and leave the Labor Party, since he showed he has no respect for anything it was supposed to be about by joining this death-loving coalition government.

[oberliner]

3. His actions now are the reason why he did agree to join the coalition

If he is unable to convince Netanyahu of these realities, I trust he would not be staying in the coalition for very long.

[Ken Burch]

8. Then again, he's now so badly split the Labor Party

that Barak couldn't possibly get away with leaving the coalition and risking early elections. I would assume Labor's poll numbers(which were pathetic in the last election)have now dropped even further.

Barak always KNEW a coalition with Likud and Beitenyu would be anti-peace. And he always knew that joining such a coalition would be a guarantee that Labor wouldn't gain seats in the NEXT election. What the hell was he thinking?

[IndianaGreen]

2. Half of Labour's MK abstained in voting for Bibi's government

Barak cannot even keep peace within his own party, and he made peace impossible by joining the apartheid Likud and the racist Yisrael Beiteinu in the government.

[oberliner]

4. A comprehensive peace will be next to impossible without those folks on board

Ignoring Likud/Beiteinu is as likely to lead to a comprehensive peace agreement as ignoring Hamas.

[azurnoir]

5. To try to put forth that what is a comparatively

tiny minority in the Likud government will somehow change everything is next to ridiculous, Barak joined the government to stay somehow "relevant" and Netanyahu allowed them to join for political appearances, knowing that Labour would always be the minority vote

[IndianaGreen]

7. Barak is Bibi's fig leaf for settlement expansion and construction

and we will get what we have been getting for 4 decades, indigenous Palestinians being uprooted by messianic newcomers.

[IndianaGreen]

6. I should point out that Likud is opposed to abandoning the settlements

and that Ysrael Beiteinu supports ethnic cleansing Israel proper of all non-Jew Israelis.

Add Shas to the mix, and you got a gang that can't shoot straight.

Likud charter

The 1999 Likud charter emphasized the right of settlement in "Judea (and) Samaria" (more commonly known as the "West Bank") and Gaza,"<7> and as such, brings it into direct conflict with Palestinian claims on the same territory. Similarly, their claims of the Jordan river as the permanent eastern border to Israel and Jerusalem as "the eternal, united capital of the State of Israel and only of Israel," do the same.

The 'Peace & Security' chapter of the 1999 Likud Party platform “flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river.” The chapter continued: “The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign state.”<7>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likud

Settlements

The Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are the realization of Zionist values. Settlement of the land is a clear expression of the unassailable right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel and constitutes an important asset in the defense of the vital interests of the State of Israel. The Likud will continue to strengthen and develop these communities and will prevent their uprooting.

<snip>

Self-Rule

The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan river.

http://www.knesset.gov.il/elections/knesset15/elikud_m.htm