Yishai says renewed negotiations will lead to nowhere, as Hamas won't honor Abbas's agreement; Shas declares opposition to building freeze.
By LAHAV HARKOVEli Yishai(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Interior Minister and Shas Chairman Eli Yishai said that peace talks will lead to nowhere in this week's issue of the Shas newsletter From Day to Day, released Thursday.Yishai said that the shootings only prove that "peace talks will lead to nowhere, because Hamas is the ruler on the ground, and won't let the Palestinian Authority reach an agreement.""Let's say [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] makes an agreement with us, where we make painful sacrifices. Hamas and all the other terror organizations will start attacking again - so what did we do?" Yishai said. "We must stand up for our principles and never give up on them: Stop terror, recognize Israel as a Jewish state, stop provoking violence, and start negotiations without conditions. Certainly not the condition of a building freeze.""Shas is opposed to freezing building throughout Eretz Yisrael," Yishai said, reportedly before the two attacks on Israelis in the West Bank. Yishai added that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Shas's spiritual leader, opposed the building freeze from its beginning, and his opinion has not changed.Last week, Yishai claimed there is no chance of a peace agreement with the Palestinians, during a visit to Shomria, a community set up for Gush Katif evacuees."The Palestinians are not ready to recognize Israel and say that until Israel is destroyed a Palestinian state will not be established," he said, adding that there is no Palestinian leadership to negotiate with.After Tuesday night's shooting attack, Yishai moved to relax gun controls for West Bank residents. One of the four people killed by the Hamas gunmen, Yitzhak Ames, had his weapons permit revoked a few months prior to being murdered.Rebecca Anna Stoil contributed to this report.Click for full Jpost coverage of the 2010 peace talks
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