Aryeh Deri
Interior minister calls to establish Ministry of Palestinian Affairs
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acted on his new policy of restrained settlement construction, Internal Affairs Minister goes one step further and calls on the PM to appoint a new minister to handle Palestinian affairs.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri is calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to establish a new ministry to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Ynet's sister publication, Deri spoke about many issues, starting with Israel’s friction with Iran.
Internal Affairs Minister Aryeh Deri (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
The minister commented that even though Iran understands that there’s a “new sheriff in town” (referring to US President Donald Trump), they still “do whatever they can to invest in terrorism against Israel and supply Hezbollah with weapons as their front line against the Jewish state.”
Deri expressed hope that one day a generation will rise up in Iran and ask itself “why do we even need to fight Israel?”
Then, segueing to another people who rose against their regime, Deri was asked about Syria, specifically regarding his stance as a member of the Security Cabinet on whether last week’s US missile strike justifies Israel’s involvement there.
“(To answer) I can only quote the former head of IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, who said that Israel should bomb Syria’s chemical weapons reservoirs,” Deri answered. “I presume that the Security Cabinet will assemble soon enough to deliberate on the subject and make a decision.
US missile attack on Syrian airbase (Photo: AFP)
“I am not going to recommend conquering Syria or anything, but there are definitely ways to take care of what’s going on there and not just be satisfied with denouncements and sorrowful expressions.
“There’s the way of diplomacy, and there’s also the way of action.”
The conversation then transitioned to conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. When asked about it, the minister responded that it is a very complex problem. “There is an open strife (between us),” Deri said, adding that in spite of that, “they live among us and we live among them.”
“I’m going to candidly say that, unfortunately for us all, Mahmoud Abbas does not want to progress with diplomacy. He is not willing to, and this was also claimed by John Kerry (who was the US Secretary of State at the time) and Tzipi Livni (who was the Foreign Minister at the time).”
Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Photo: AP)
Deri was then asked about what should be done, and made quite a surprising statement.
“Here, I call on Netanyahu for the very first time, on record for the news, to appoint a special minister to deal with the Palestinian issue, who can take care of our financial ties with them. We should manage the conflict, and that is something we are not doing sufficiently.
“There is a supporting government in the White House and an opportunity was given. We should deal with the Palestinian financial issue, to give them hope for the future. We can work together, as is proven in the war on terror, in which we have strong cooperation with the Palestinians.”
Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)
Deri went on to clarify that he does not wish to take the aforementioned position, as he is already the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of the Development of the Negev and Galilee. Instead, he recommended Tzachi Hanegbi and said that even though he might be busy as the acting Minister of Communications, he is “very talented, and can do both.”
(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)
