President of Israel Shimon Peres gives interview to Kommersant.
Photo: Sergey Ponomarev
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Russia Conducts Monologue with Hamas, -- Shimon Peres
// New president of Israel gave interview to Kommersant
Israel’s prime minister visited the Palestinian Autonomy on Monday, for the first time in the last seven years. The meeting between Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert opened a new stage of negotiations for creating the Palestinian state. In the first interview to Russian mass media after his election, given to Kommersant’s reporter in Jerusalem Grigory Asmolov, new President of Israel Shimon Peres shared his vision of the future of the Palestine-Israel peace process.
“Mr. President, is it possible to reach peace with Palestine without the Hamas movement’s participation in that process?”
“The question is not whether we can talk with Hamas. Hamas does not want peace, and has put itself beyond the framework of dialogue. Hamas put up a riot in the Palestinian Autonomy, and starts shooting every day. Meanwhile, we withdraw our soldiers from Gaza, and evacuated settlers from there. It is necessary to explain it to Hamas that nobody in the world will finance terror and bombardments of Sderot [an Israeli city at the border with the Gaza Strip.—Kommersant].”
“Yet, Russia believes that peace can be reached only by means of dialogue with all parties of the conflict, including radicals and extremists.”
“What did that policy lead to? One can talk to a wall as well. The wall wouldn’t answer, though. Hamas refuses to respect agreements and to end terror. In this situation, I would like to know what Russia’s suggestion is. I say this with great respect to Russia. However, what Russia conducts with Hamas is not a dialogue; it is a monologue.”
“Do you believe it is possible to create the Palestinian state without the Gaza Strip?”
“We cannot unite the Palestinians, so it is not our business. We are not matchmakers, and we do not deal with the divorces of others. If Hamas stops shooting, there will be peace. If not, we will have to defend ourselves. Inhabitants of the Gaza Strip pay the highest price for it. I do not understand what Hamas is trying to achieve. I’d be glad if someone explained that to me.”
“What do you think are the chances of the peace process initiated in Jericho?”
“The conference summoned under a U.S. initiative is an important step. If it ends without effect, it will be a great disappointment. So, its main result should be the declaration of principles to outline the dialogue’s framework. Yet, I think that economic cooperation should be developed first of all. After the World War II, any achievements were the fruit of economic progress. Nowadays, diplomacy is used excessively, and there is not enough attention given to economy. There are two ways. First, political negotiations based on the declaration of principles. Second, the way of economy to unite primarily the Palestinians, the Jordanians, and us.
We cannot nowadays speak of politics without economy and ecology. Air and water are poisoned, the desert approaches, the Dead Sea is really dying. We can struggle against it only together. Economy means relations, while diplomacy means borders. It is very hard to determine borders if the relations are bad. We need to develop relations in order to define borders.”
“What will ‘the Declaration of Principles’ include? Is it a new ‘Roadmap’?”
“Not necessarily. We are looking for new ways to implement the Roadmap. The declaration should include points concerning the key issues of the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue. I cannot give a more specific definition. We cannot reach progress in the dialogue at one fling. For instance, before entrusting the Palestinians with complete control of cities, we need to be sure they have law-enforcement structures capable of maintaining order. I say this with great respect to Mahmoud Abbas. He is an earnest man who wants peace.”
“However, many people in Israel now say that a new war is likely to happen. What do you think of the chances of such scenario?”
“War – what for? After five wars with Egypt, we reached peace at the table of negotiations. Talks also led to peace with Jordan. We have now begun the peace process with Palestine. Wars were absolutely fruitless.”
“What do you think of the ‘Iranian factor’?”
“The situation with Iran is special. There is an obvious threat of an extremely dangerous combination: terror and nuclear weapons. If terrorists obtain atomic weapons, the situation might become uncontrollable. Iran is not our problem; it is the problem of the whole world. However, I think that sanctions against Iran have already started working. It is a poor country with high unemployment, corruption, high level of dissatisfaction with the authorities.”
“There has appeared information in Israeli mass media on Russia’s intention to deploy its fleet in Syria’s harbors. More and more experts speak of the Cold War’s return. How can it affect Israel?”
“What concerns the Russian fleet, the information needs to be verified yet. Speaking of the Cold War, Moscow’s foreign policy in the Soviet times was primarily ideological. It was not about seizing lands and water; first of all, it was the struggle for human minds between two ideologies. In that struggle, both parties spent billions of dollars: they sold weapons, sent specialists, built military complexes. But what for? What did Soviet weapon supplies to Egypt bring? The USSR was expelled from Egypt, and the Communist party was prohibited there. I don’t think that Russia now wants to spend money on similar purposes. I don’t believe that Russia’s current policy should be regarded as ideological. Russia wants the world to respect and acknowledge its role. And it is understandable. I believe that President Putin, just like us, wants to see peace, and not war, in the Middle East. Meanwhile, returning to the Cold War is impossible; there no longer exist those ideologies on which it was based.”
“Mr. President, there were many apprehensions before your election that you would be unable to discard your political views and stand beyond politics, ‘above the conflict’, just like the role of Israeli president demands it.”
“Having spent 60 years in management positions of all kinds of levels, I no longer want to be a manager. I want to create and to help unify the society. I do not need power, for the strongest power is the power of free will. A president represents free will. As president, I can talk to people. At the same time, I try to fully coordinate my activities with the government and the parliament.”
“Yet, there are people who do not think that presidency suits you, for instance some settlers.”
“I should respect the opinion of all Israelites. It does not mean they should all have 100-percent respect for me. It would be abnormal.”
Grigory Asmolov
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 07, 2007
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