RAMALLAH, August 11 (JMCC) - A former adviser to prime minister Ariel Sharon has published an opinion piece warning Israelis against annulling the Oslo peace agreements with Palestinian to punish them for seeking statehood at the United Nations.
To do so would also annul the Palestinian Authority, Dov Weisglass
argues at Ynet, thus putting Israel in charge of nearly four million Palestinians. As Weisglass notes, Palestinian leaders are also toying with dismantling the interim Palestinian Authority, saying Israel must be forced to take responsibility for its occupation.
As income revenues in the Palestinian areas are meager, Israeli taxpayers funded the huge sums requires for managing Palestinian civilian life. The Civil Administration in the territories was not only expensive, but worse, bothersome and at times corrupt. Just like any military administration that manages civilian lives, it caused Israel terrible public relations damage.
It is therefore difficult to fathom why the current government – whose governing abilities prompted protests and tent cities nationwide – would risk a move that may impose on it the management of millions of Palestinian lives. Where will this government draw the billions of shekels required to do so? Where will it recruit the manpower for the job? Moreover, at this day and age the whole world is monitoring developments in the territories, so Israel will have to provide superb service there.
Irresponsible ideas may prompt negative developments involuntarily. Will the annulment of the Oslo Accords and dismantlement of the PA indeed constitute a punishment for the Palestinians? This is highly doubtful. Quite a few Palestinian spokespeople are calling for the annulment of the agreements and PA because of the practical and diplomatic advantages they granted Israel: In the framework of agreement, the Palestinians recognized the 1967 borders, and the creation of the PA, they say, was a mistake; a transitional agreement that perpetuated itself.