Amir Peretz
Photo: Yaron Brenner
Labor must turn left. Pinkas
Photo: GPO
Peretz: Palestinian state within 4 years
In talk with EU ambassadors, Labor Chairman reveals political doctrine: Accelerating negotiations for permanent agreement, even by skipping over first stages of Road Map; says negotiations to end within year, full implementation within four years
Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz said Saturday that he opposes the annulment of any signed political document, but that the Road Map stages are not sacred and Israel must accelerate the negotiations for the permanent agreement.
This is the key goal, even if this should cause some of the first stages of the Road Map to become unnecessary, he said.
Peretz spoke during a meeting with 25 European Union ambassadors. He stressed that a permanent agreement could be reached within one year and would be implemented within another three years.
Peretz told the ambassadors about his political doctrine, saying that he is completely opposed to dividing Jerusalem and the right of return.
He added that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is a partner who must be strengthened opposite the terror organizations, and that a temporary Palestinian state is a bad default because it would probably be hostile compared to a state that would be established through a permanent agreement and would just be a neighboring country.
Pinkas: Labor must not turn left
However, former New York consul-general Alon Pinkas, who is running in the Labor party primaries, said Saturday that "Labor must turn left into the past in an attempt to recommence negotiations."
Pinkas said that since the United States will also be entering an election year in less than one year, "the most wise and serious thing Israel should do is to formulate a plan for a coordinated disengagement, which will include 80,000 settlers and 60 settlements in a number of stages."
"The consideration in determining the borders should be from a demographic and security aspect," he added.
