The Israeli Palestinian conflict is more of an existential threat to this nation than a nuclear Iran, former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin said on Wednesday night.
To solve the conflict, Israel must immediately freeze Jewish building in the West Bank outside the settlement blocs and pledge to release all Palestinian prisoners at the end of the negotiations, Diskin said at a tenth anniversary event hosted by the Geneva Initiative.
“The implications of the absence of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is more existential than the Iranian nuclear issue,” Diskin said, as he outlined a plan to foster an atmosphere that could lead to a two-state solution.
“First, most immediate and more important than anything, is to immediately freeze of all the settlements outside of the big settlements blocs,” Diskin said to a round of applause in the large, packed auditorium at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art that included diplomats and politicians.
Such a step would help restore faith that something has changed and it would also stop West Bank settlements growth from getting out of control, Diskin said.
Second, Palestinian prisoners should be released at the final stages of negotiations, even though this is an emotional point for the Israeli public.
“A peace agreement justifies even the release of Palestinian prisoners, but this should be done only at the final stages,” said Diskin.
This kind of release differs from the “cynical political” deal reached now, in which Palestinian prisoners were released to allow for continued settlement building, Diskin said.
“We must change the Israeli and Palestinian public attitude from a feeling that there is only a past to one of belief that there is also a future,” Diskin said.
“We have to believe in the path and our leaders have to be clear they support two states for two people,” Diskin said.
“There has to be a dramatic change in Israel’s political map, in which there will be a new coalition composed of parties that support peace,” he added.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas must speak of peace in the Knesset and Israelis leaders should speak before Palestinian Fatah politicians in Ramallah, Diskin proposed.
One also has to look to the Israel’s neighbors to help resolve the conflict, Diskin said.
Jordan and Egypt, he said, should be brought into the negotiations at an early stage and “are critical for the [process'] success and its future,” he said.
It is important for the US to strengthen its ties with the new Egyptian government, Diskin said.
There have been dramatic changes in the region brought on by the Arab spring and the threat of a nuclear Iran that require Israel to think of a new regional strategy in which it reevaluated both the dangers and the opportunities, including creating closer ties with Jordan and Egypt, Diskin said.
He dismissed those on the Israeli Right who call for a Palestinian state in Jordan.
Jordan can not be the homeland for the Palestinian people for the same reason that Uganda can not be the homeland for the Jewish people, said Diskin.
United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry warned that “the international community is becoming increasingly impatient and that is why we stand to lose much if the talks fail again.”
He reminded the Israeli public that “there is a partner in Ramallah” and that now was the time to capitalize on the Arab League Initiative to resolve the conflict which promised to normalize relations with Israel.
Serry warned that this nine month round of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which US Secretary of State John Kerry hopes to boost in his visit here on Thursday and Friday, could be the last chance to reach an agreement for a two-state solution.
Sources close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed Diskin and his comments, saying that "anyone who thinks that the Palestinian threat is greater than the threat of a nuclear bomb in the hands of Iran, which calls for the destruction of the State of Israel, is divorced from reality and lacking any strategic vision."
According to the sources, Netanyahu will continue to work to remove the Iranian nuclear threat, and in parallel try to move forward to a diplomatic solution with the Palestinians, but only one that will maintain Israel's security interests.
According to the sources, Netanyahu will be influenced neither by "recycled statements, nor the righteous preaching that flows from the personal frustration of someone who wanted to be appointed the head of the Mossad, but did not get the job."