Netanyahu. Blind
Photo: Niv Calderon
Erekat. Inventive
Photo: Ronen Boidek
'Government politically blind,' says Netanyahu
Opposition leader slams government's decisions prior to Annapolis summit, calls leadership weak. 'If this is how they start off, who knows where they'll end up,' he says. Meanwhile Saeb Erekat remains hopeful, says final agreement within reach
Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) on Sunday slammed the government's decision making process prior to the Annapolis peace conference, calling it "political blindness."
"Everybody wants peace, but we want a real peace and that requires insisting on the safety of Israeli citizens and insisting on reciprocality.
Disbelief
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"This is a very weak government, which made too many concessions going into the summit," said Netanyahu, who spoke at the Zeev Jabotinsky awards ceremony.
"The government has released hundreds of prisoners and has already given the Palestinians weapons… They are politically blind. If this is how they start off, who knows were they'll end up," he added.
Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, said Sunday that he believes a peace agreement could be reached "before Bush leaves office."
In an interview with CNN, Erekat said that the success of the summit was "up to us and the Israelis, but there is no short of will between the sides. (Prime Minister) Olmert and (Palestinian President) Abbas have been meeting in private for the past four months trying to find solutions.
"We're not inventing the wheel here. The time to make decisions is now… if these two can make it happen, they'll be the most famous people to come out of the Middle East since Jesus."
"Unlike the prior summits, this time every Arab county sent some sort of high-ranking delegation," added Erekat. "We have all the Muslim nations on our side this time, telling us 'go ahead and do it.'"
Full coverage of the Annapolis peace summit
Amnon Meranda and Yitzhak Benhorin contributed to this report
