FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN JERUSALEM “I believe that our government’s policies are fundamentally wrong. If we accept the ceasefire in exchange for the release of the hostages, we will be at the mercy of Hamas. Netanyahu’s policies that strengthened Hamas in Gaza were equally wrong. As a result, terrorists determined to buy time by extending the ceasefire are now winning. The situation is becoming increasingly complicated for our army, with soldiers stuck in the middle of the battlefield and the ceasefire could last for months. This ignores, among other things, the fact that the vast majority of Israelis today, on both the right and the left, want to eliminate Hamas and its leaders.”
Yossi Beilin has always been a steadfast supporter of the need to negotiate peace. Author of the Oslo Accords with Yasser Arafat in 1993, icon of the Israeli left, at 75 years old, he does not hide the fact that before October 7 he had tried to negotiate secretly with Hamas.
Also in 1989 you began secretly negotiating with the PLO. What was the driving force behind the success?
“I found out that Palestinian leader Feisal Husseini was ready for dialogue in Jerusalem. In parliament I had the law repealed that banned relations with Arafat’s emissaries. Then came the Norwegian mediation. There was a desire to understand each other.
The reasons for the failure?
“The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish Fundamentalist; the election of Netanyahu, who did not want two states; the growth of Hamas terrorism. We underestimated the extremists in the two camps who are ready to sacrifice themselves for the boycott of peace.”
And what has Hamas said to you lately?
“They refused. They said they were not interested in negotiations or even in a confidential contact channel.
Then what to do with the hostages?
“Let’s free them in a single exchange, why extend it over a longer period of time? So let’s start fighting again.”
When it comes to war, as a pacifist you seem to be tougher than the current far-right government.
“This government has never been combative toward Hamas: it has always preferred Hamas to the PLO.”
Do you think peace can now be built like with Egypt in 1979, after Israel was surprised by the 1973 attack?
“October 7th was the total defeat of Netanyahu’s policies: he wanted to ignore a partner willing to compromise for the two states, whose leader Abu Mazen says he is absolutely against the war.” And in any case, peace will be made after the war. Today we cannot speak to the perpetrators of the October 7 horrors, but we must speak to the PLO.”
What if the Palestinians themselves supported Hamas?
“But Hamas has no intention of being our partner. It was a mistake for Hamas to take part in the 2006 Palestinian elections; its statute envisages the destruction of the State of Israel and therefore violates the rules that the Palestinians have set for themselves.”
In 2006, Hamas spoke of “hudna,” a ceasefire for at least twenty years.
“Exactly, but I want full recognition and true peace, not a temporary ceasefire.” When I proposed the confederation between two states in recent years, I thought we could make peace with the PLO and, in parallel, hudna with Hamas. But from October 7th this will no longer be possible: Hamas must be defeated and excluded.”
How can a Palestinian state be created in the West Bank, where over half a million settlers now live?
“Of these, less than a hundred thousand are truly ideological: they have no intention of leaving the country, so we could accept the same number of Palestinians into Israel.”
Many here argue that the post-Oslo Palestinians missed the state train twice when they rejected offers that included almost 95 percent of the occupied territories. You were present at the talks between Ehud Barak and Arafat in 2007 and between Ehud Olmert and Abbas in 2007. Do you agree?
“Of course, the Palestinians have missed several opportunities, including Bill Clinton’s plans. But Israel is no different, for example when it ignored the initiative of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states in 2002. I would say the responsibilities are mixed.”
Back to the war: Should Hamas be destroyed without regard for the civilian population in Gaza?
“I would suggest that they leave Gaza, just as Arafat left Beirut in 1982. And we will renounce our military presence. If they refuse, we will have to continue the war to the end.”
They know full well that Abbas and the other PA leaders are not ready to rule Gaza…
“The Americans are working on it and not only them. I believe that there must be a kind of international coalition like in Cambodia in 1991 under the auspices of the United Nations: it worked for 18 months and allowed the development of democracy.”
And replace Abbas with Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah leader who is in prison but is reportedly very popular among Palestinians?
“It’s not up to us. Abbas was an honest and credible partner. However, I have said in the past that a young and popular leader like Barghouti could help.”
Do you fear that Israel is moving increasingly to the right?
“The latest polls mark the collapse of the government: 75 percent of voters are leaning towards the opposition, which believes in the two-state solution, which the American president himself mentions twice a day.” Even at the time of the agreements with Egypt, the majority was against it Cession of Sinai. But then they accepted it without any problems. And the same thing happened in Oslo with the PLO. It is up to us to create a politics of peace possibilities.”