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Government causing damage, says Netanyahu
Opposition leader slams Prime Minister Olmert ahead of US-sponsored peace conference. 'The problem is not whether to go or not to go to Annapolis, but what to do there,' he says, warning that Israel has failed to meet any of goals set ahead of summit. Likud MK Sa'ar: Drying out settlements is an anti-Zionist act
Attila Somfalvi
We will have to do a lot in order to fix the damage this government is causing, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday during a Likud faction meeting.
Addressing the upcoming US-sponsored Mideast peace conference, Netanyahu noted, "The problem is not whether to go or not to go to Annapolis, but rather what to do there.
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| PM promises to freeze settlements, remove outposts / Roni Sofer |
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Road Map includes explicit commitments and we will have to implement them, Olmert explains during weekly cabinet meeting. Government approves release of 441 prisoners as goodwill gesture to Palestinian president; Shas, Yisrael Beitienu ministers oppose move |
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Netanyahu argued that Israel
had failed to meet any of its stances, and will not even be recognized as a Jewish state.
"The public wants sane peace, not hallucinatory peace. The prime minister must know how to negotiate on the important principles, headed by security. We shall lead the country once again and return the principles of security and reciprocity to the negotiations with our neighbors," he said.
Likud faction chairman, Knesset Member Gideon Sa'ar, also slammed the government and the prime minister, saying that "the thought that the release of prisoners will create conditions for peace has been refuted so many times."
Sa'ar stated that "the moves aimed at drying out communities and towns in the Judea and Samaria and harassing every community, including cities beyond the Green Line – are cruel and anti-Zionist acts."
Sa'ar added, "The third dangerous thing is the attempt to bypass the political difficulties faced by the prime minister inside his coalition through an American document in Annapolis. This document will remain a tragedy forever."
The opposition leader spoke shortly after the government approved the release of 441 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture aimed at bolstering Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Annapolis conference.
Three Shas ministers, two Yisrael Beiteinu ministers and Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) voted against the move.
Sources at the Prime Minister's Office said that the release would not harm the efforts to free kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, as these were not prisoners demanded by Hamas.
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