|
|
| |
|
|||||||||||
  
| |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
 |
Right outraged at Wye signing, Left skepticalBy SARAH HONIGTEL AVIV (October 25) - There were few surprises in the response to the deal Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu forged at Wye Plantation. Those to the prime minister's right expressed disappointment and outrage. To his Left, the Wye Memorandum was welcomed, but doubt was cast on his commitment to actually implement it. Communications Minister Limor Livnat said, "From what we hear of the deal it is not completely without its achievements. There are some improvements on what we had before. I will have to see it all in full and hear the prime minister's explanations before I decide how I will vote." Science Minister Silvan Shalom, according to Likud sources, is expected to join the deal's supporters. He extolled "the safety valves in the agreement. Every move hinges on the implementation of the Palestinian Authority's commitments." Justice Minister Tzahi Hanegbi, however, is considered not likely to vote for the agreement, and there is continuing speculation over how Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon will vote. A sure nay vote will come from Agriculture Minister Rafael Eitan (Tsomet), who said yesterday that he has "absolutely no faith in the deal. The Arabs have a long tradition of not living up to any undertaking... Arafat failed to live up to what he was supposed to do under the original Oslo Accords." Likud MK Uzi Landau, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said he laments the fact that "Netanyahu allowed [US President Bill] Clinton to lock him up at Wye and the coerce him. As was the case in Hebron, Netanyahu blinked first." Moledet leader Rehavam Ze'evi accused Netanyahu of having "trampled our national self-respect. We got nothing at Wye, we only gave... Netanyahu has betrayed his voters and has capitulated to an American president who needs us to pay for his personal involvements." On the other side of the political divide, Labor chairman Ehud Barak said he "is happy about the very fact that a deal had been reached, but I cannot say that I am excited about it. This is far from what we need to make peace and this government is totally incapable of making peace." MK Yossi Beilin (Labor) asserted, "Netanyahu never deliberately set out to make peace. It wasn't his policy. He meandered into it unintentionally... Still, I am happy the the summit yielded an agreement, though it is identical to what Israel was offered many months ago." Meretz leader Yossi Sarid said "Netanyahu just wasted precious time getting nowhere. We could have had the same long ago, with less destruction of good will with the Palestinians and needless acrimony with the Americans... The whole attempt to harp on the Pollard case was stupid and a cheap ploy to win propaganda points." Former prime minister Shimon Peres called the Wye Memorandum a "victory" for the Oslo Accords which kicked off the peace process five years ago.
Headlines
The Document
Speeches
Analysis
The Pollard Issue
| ||
| © 1995-1998, The Jerusalem Post - All rights reserved | Try our MIRROR SITE for faster connections |
Front Page | News | Business | Real Estate | Columns | Features | Opinion Sports | Tourism | Archive | Weather | Letters | Links | Feedback Advertising | Store | Subscribe | Email Edition | Classifieds | CD-ROM | Funds | EZ-Post | |
