Lapid clarifies stance after ‘NY Times’ interview

Yesh Atid favors an immediate return to peace talks toward a two-state solution,
Finance Minister Yair Lapid clarified Monday.

Lapid set off waves of
opposition within his party and others, after saying settlement construction
should not be frozen ahead of peace talks and Jerusalem will not be
divided.

“I need to clarify something after my interview with The New
York Times. Whoever thinks we can have peace without a two-state solution
is mistaken,” Lapid said at a Yesh Atid faction meeting.

At the same
time, Lapid spoke of a need to be tough in negotiations.

“You don’t go
into talks with just an olive branch, like the Left, or just a gun, like the
Right,” he explained. “We need both.”

According to Lapid, Israel and the
Palestinians must immediately return to the negotiations table “even if it’s
controversial here, and even if it is hard to trust the
Palestinians.”

“We will not abandon negotiations,” he
emphasized.

In an interview with the Times published Monday, Lapid said
he will “be proactive about this and do everything in [his] power to contribute
to the discourse” on peace talks.

“Israelis want peace and security and
Palestinians want peace and justice – these are two very different things, and
this is the real gap we have to close. More and more people are saying to
themselves and to others, ‘This is not going to happen, all we have to do is
some maintenance and [then] we’ll see.’ Some people think ‘We’ll see’ is ‘God
will help us,’ which is not a very tangible idea to me. Others say, ‘Some
problems are not to be solved,’ which is a very sad idea,” Lapid stated. “I am
saying what we need to do is something.”

Lapid said he opposes changes in
settlement policy and will not stop their “natural expansion” or incentives for
Israelis to move to Judea and Samaria. He called it “heartbreaking” that tens of
thousands of Jews would have to be removed from their homes in “remote
settlements.”

In the meantime, before any settlements are uprooted, an
interim Palestinian state should be created in the West Bank, with final borders
that will be set in several years, Lapid said.

The finance minister
expressed hope that US Secretary of State John Kerry would “jump-start” the
peace process when he arrives next week, while calling Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas a “founding father of the victimizing concept of the
Palestinians” who would be unlikely to reach a deal.

As for east
Jerusalem, Lapid said it will remain under Israeli sovereignty, because “we
didn’t come here for nothing.”

“Jerusalem is not a place; Jerusalem is an
idea.

Jerusalem is the capital of the Israeli state,” he
explained.

Several high-profile figures in Yesh Atid – including Health
Minister Yael German, a former member of Meretz; Science and Technology Minister
Yaakov Peri, a supporter of the Geneva Accord; and faction chairman Ofer Shelah
– have taken stances further to the Left on settlements and talks with the
Palestinians.

Shelah spoke out against Lapid’s assertions, saying, “Any
intelligent person knows there won’t be an agreement with the Palestinians
without [dividing] Jerusalem.”

“The solution is complex, and in the end
it has to express Zionism and the Israeli ethos in relation to Jerusalem, as
well as that of the Palestinians,” Shelah explained.

The Yesh Atid
faction chairman pointed out that the last government already tried a settlement
construction freeze, which was “unsuccessful and didn’t help anyone.”

At
the same time, he said the welfare state that developed in the territories
should not be perpetuated and building in areas that “will not be in Israel in
the future” should not continue, with the exception of immediate needs such as
nurseries for towns with many children.

As for turmoil within his party,
Shelah said, “There won’t be a problem with votes. I joined Yesh Atid because it
has a variety of opinions, and I think others did, too.”

Meanwhile,
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said at a Hatnua meeting that she had hoped Yesh
Atid would fulfill its campaign promises and work toward peace.

“The text
we read today, in such a sensitive week, does not contribute to the discourse,”
she stated. “I hope there can be more of a partnership in the
future.”

Earlier on Monday, MKs gathered for the launch of the 19th
Knesset Caucus to Solve the Israeli-Arab Conflict, led by MK Hilik Bar
(Labor).

Bar criticized Lapid for implying that Abbas is not a partner
for peace, saying Lapid “disappointed us on the economic issue – don’t
disappoint us on diplomatic issues.”

“You promised the act so we return
to the negotiating table. Now fulfill your promise,” Bar said.

MK Merav
Michaeli (Labor) accused Lapid of breaking his campaign promises not to be part
of a government that does not start peace talks.

Yesh Atid MK Ronen
Hoffman attempted to explain Lapid’s message at the caucus launch.

“I’m
here to prove wrong those who say Yesh Atid thinks there’s no partner for
peace,” Hoffman said.

“We’re for a two-state solution and immediate peace
talks without preconditions.”

Hoffman praised NGOs that encourage
grassroots support for peace, which he said “cannot come from a small group of
leaders without support from the population.”

The caucus also discussed
at length the Arab League leadership’s agreement to land swaps in a future peace
treaty.

“Ignoring the Arab League peace initiative is not an option. The
government gave no answer. All of the Arab and Muslim countries support the
initiative, and we have been silent for the past decade,” he said.

Shas
MK Yitzhak Cohen also spoke out in favor of the Arab League’s readiness to
accept land swaps.

“The split in the Palestinian camp, between Hamas and
Fatah, makes it difficult for them to form a state and raises concern that
they’ll be a base for Iran. Still, it’s worth looking into the advantages of
[the Arab League proposal]. We’d have peace with 1.5 billion Muslims.

We
could bring the economy into this discourse with oil-rich nations,” he
said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who was invited to the caucus
to present a different opinion, accused its members of not listening to the Arab
League.

“There is no new initiative here. Egypt says so, and there
wouldn’t be an Arab League initiative without an important country like Egypt,”
he said.

“People need to face reality and stop being deluded that things
here will be perfect and peaceful. What can we do, our forefathers lived in this
land, in the Middle East. We’re not dealing with Switzerland or Finland,”
he quipped.

Elkin also pointed out that there was no peace with the Arabs
before 1967, when Israel was not in Judea and Samaria.

“The other side
does not accept the existence of a Jewish state here,” he
concluded.

“That is a fact.”

The Likud Beytenu deputy minister was
booed as he left the stage, but Bar scolded the crowd.

“You want peace,
you just want it in a different way than us,” Bar said to Elkin.