Meretz Chair Yossi Beilin Addresses Meretz USA Board

On the evening of Thursday, March 22, 2007, Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin addressed the Meretz USA board.  He discussed current events surrounding the Winograd Commission, the formation of the Palestinian Unity government, and what the US should be doing, among other issues.  Below is a summary of his remarks.

Winograd Commission & Government Corruption

Dr. Beilin spoke first about an event that occurred on Thursday.  Following a petition from Meretz MK Zahava Galon, the Israeli Supreme Court decided to publish the minutes of the Winograd testimonies.  On Thursday, Shimon Peres’ testimony was made public.  In it, Peres said he had been against the Lebanon war from the beginning – a fact that is also reflected in the Government Cabinet meeting minutes.  Today, a rally of students asked him why, if he was against the war, did he vote for it?  Peres answered that, as the Deputy Prime Minister, he did not feel that he could vote against the Prime Minister.  In response, Dr. Beilin released a statement saying that those individuals who saw the danger of the war, but voted for it anyway, misled the country.

Dr. Beilin also predicted upcoming changes in the Israeli government, although he said he did not believe there would be new elections.

On the Newly-Formed Palestinian Unity Government

Dr. Beilin asserted that the Unity Government is a very important milestone since it may create more Palestinian consensus in dealing with Israel.  Previous negotiations and exchanges have only occurred with the agreement of one half of the Palestinian population.  Israel could come to agreements with Fatah, but not impose them on Hamas.

Hamas is now part of the government.  Although it does not recognize Israel, Israel should not dismiss the government or hold it to preconditions for negotiations.  The government should be judged not only by what it says, but also by who its members are, and by what it does. It is more important that the government stops the violence than that it recognize Israel. 

Dr. Beilin also expressed his hopes that the Arab League would reaffirm the Arab Initiative on March 28th in Riyadh. 

On the Syrian Channel

Dr. Beilin noted that many countries, including some moderate Arab States are against Israeli negotiations with Syria over the Golan.   However, he said that he believed that negotiations are in the interests of Israel. Should negotiations prove fruitless, Israel could say that it tried and Syria would be shown to be unresponsive and untrustworthy.

On Hebron

Dr. Beilin explained that he believes the issue of Hebron is very important and that there have been significant developments there recently.  About 200 settlers recently broke into the closed shops of the old market in Hebron (which had been evacuated for “security reasons”).  The settlers claim that they purchased the shops from the Palestinians who own them.  Importantly, such a deal must have the Defense Minister’s permission, and, at this point, it is unclear whether Amir Peretz gave this consent. Even if the settlers did purchase the buildings, as they claim, their occupancy would not be legal without the Defense Minister’s approval.  Similar instances continue to take place.

On the US Role

Dr. Beilin observed that, throughout this stay in the US, everyone he has met with has asked him what the US can do to mediate in the conflict.  He said that he thought that given the recent American track record, it would be best if the Administration refrained from doing anything.  Right now, there are enough negative influences in the administration that it will do only harm.  Obviously, the American Jewish community should be pressing the progressive agenda of negotiations and measuring the Palestinian Authority by what it does to reign in violence than by a set of criteria which it will not meet. The emphasis for progressive Jews should be on establishing relations with the Presidential candidates of both parties.