Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres rejected Wednesday Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz' characterization of the Palestinian Authority as a “terrorist entity,” mounting a sustained if limited defense of the PA as a body that "at times even fights terrorism."
Mofaz said Tuesday that the PA had become a “terrorist entity” and that many of the PA's security branches were participating in “terror activities,” Israeli reports said.
"In my eyes this is not a ceasefire," Mofaz told the Knesset foreign affairs and defense committee. "This is a continuation of the Palestinians' policy to achieve their strategic goals through the use of violence and terrorism."
But Peres, asked by Army Radio if he would "sign on" to Mofaz's remarks, said: "No. While there are branches of the authority that engage in terrorism, we must say that the authority as such does not engage in terrorism, and, in my view, as we've seen, at times even fights against terrorism," said Haaretz newspaper.
Asked what it would take for him to be convinced that the PA was a terror entity, Peres said that "I am not a court of law, and there's no need to persuade me ... I look at the other alternatives. We made have peace with national and leaders with blood on their hands, who waged war against us, who killed our soldiers and civilians. When you go to make peace, you don't replace the entire framework of people, you replace the entire framework of relations."
“And with the Palestinian Liberation Organization, with the PA as well, we've had different periods. But I try to persuade them, not only I as a lone man but the whole world is trying to persuade them to come down from the terror issue, which is doing them tremendous damage."
Pressed for further direct comment on Mofaz's views, Peres said "The supreme commander of the army is the Israeli government. The army chief is the head of the general staff. We are a democratic country. But the supreme command is in the hands of the political echelon.” – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
