At the opening of the Knesset Winter Session, Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu lashed out at the government's policy, claiming that its strategy would eventually lead to an Iranian terrorist presence in Jerusalem and the rest of Israel.
Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu addresses the Knesset, Monday.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
"The unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon created an Iranian outpost - from which Israel is being attacked - in the North, and the unilateral pullout from Gaza created a second Iranian base in Gaza, 'Hamastan,'" Netanyahu said. "And now the government is planning a third withdrawal - from Judea and Samaria - that will lead to a third Iranian outpost."
Netanyahu quoted statements made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza, respectively, saying the two had promised security, while Israel was in actuality served with aggression and terror.
"Giving Hamas half of Jerusalem will make the rest of Jerusalem unlivable," Netanyahu said. "Giving up Judea and Samaria will transfer the areas controlling the coastal plain into the hands of Hamas, leading to Kassams…on Tel Aviv."
"According to the government's plans, Israel will pull back to the 67' borders. Obviously, this is the plan and any attempts to disguise it are futile," he said. "We are facing an exact replica of the government's plan at the Camp David summit in 2000."
"This is no way to make peace," the former prime minister lamented.
Netanyahu claimed that the government was putting all of its cards on the table, a move which, he said, would only cause heightened pressure from Palestinian terrorists whose intention would be to bring about an early withdrawal.
"Olmert will place Hamas men on the walls of Jerusalem," he warned. "Jerusalem will fast become a pilgrimage site for terrorists from all over the world."
"The government's policy is afflicted with total blindness…a vision must be rooted in the ground- not suspended in the clouds."
