Britannia Radio

Weekly Commentary: Constructive or Destructive Ambiguity? Unspoken Requirements For “Demilitarized State” Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 24 December 2009 “Real demilitarization is not a piece of paper, it’s not an agreement, and it’s not some kind of Security Council resolution, because it is our problem. It is our problem when we evacuate territory, and the territory fills immediately with Iran or their agents or weapons from Iran and also Syria…It has been demonstrated that this is the problem. That almost all the weapons aren’t manufactured inside, they are imported, at least the effective weapons, and they are becoming ever more effective, and thus a true solution to demilitarization is required. I know what the minimum conditions are for this demilitarization, and when the time comes we will also discuss it.” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressing the Knesset 23 December 2009 “This Palestinian state will be completely demilitarized. It will be allowed to maintain lightly armed police and interior forces to ensure civil order. Israel will continue to control all entries and exits to the Palestinian state, will command its airspace, and not allow it to form alliances with Israel's enemies.” Speech by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the Herzliya Conference, Institute of Policy and Strategy, December 4, 2002 Back in 2002 Prime Minister Sharon spelled out what he believed would be necessary in order to insure that a Palestinian state would indeed remain demilitarized. Of course, Sharon’s last minute abandonment of the Philadelphi Corridor that separated Gaza from Egypt made a mockery of that critical condition. But Sharon’s notoriously short planning horizon isn’t the focus of this note. If Ariel Sharon had no problem talking about the arrangements that would be required to guaranty demilitarization, why does Binyamin Netanyahu opt to leave us in the dark? Here is a suggestion: We have a paradox: While a necessary condition for a Palestinian state is that “Israel will continue to control all entries and exits”, it takes little or no imagination to come up with strategies that a sovereign Palestinian state could follow in order to ultimately effectively remove that Israeli control. Put another way: a necessary condition for a permanently demilitarized Palestinian state is that it is not an independent state. It is noteworthy that Netanyahu has never used the terms “independent” or “sovereign” to describe the Palestinian state that he has in mind. Constructive or destructive ambiguity? On the one hand, one might argue that we are so far away from the completion of a deal with the Palestinians that it is pointless to raise such requirements today. On the other hand, a concerted, well thought out program to gain support for such an Israeli position could require years. Add to that that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s self imposed ambiguity can readily lead to a situation in which his own team makes statements that will later handicap and possibly undermine efforts to gain support for Israel’s position. Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis) (Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava) Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730 INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il Website: http://www.imra.org.il