New York — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in his speech before a joint session of the United States Congress yesterday that, “we will not surrender to terror, we will not yield to terror…we will never capitulate to terrorists or terrorism.”
But then Olmert stated, “we will remove most of the settlements which are not part of the major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria.”
Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein said, “We are a little perplexed. How can Israel claim on the one hand that they will never surrender to terror, then on the other hand announce the unilateral surrender of over 90% of Judea & Samaria to the Hamas terror regime while forcibly removing at least 60,000 Jewish men, women, and children from their homes and schools? Isn’t surrendering all this land to the terrorist Hamas/Palestinian Authority nothing less than capitulation and surrender? Would Olmert be doing this if there were no Palestinian Arab terrorism? Of course not. Olmert is rewarding terror, and making clear that terrorism pays and pays well. This policy also harms the international war against Islamic terrorism. And Olmert’s demographic argument simply doesn’t make sense. The 42% of Judea and Samaria and 100% of Gaza already given away by Israel is where 98% of all Palestinian Arabs live. The 58% of the land still under Israeli control is virtually free of Palestinian Arabs. Also, if there really is going to be peace, why can’t Jews live under Palestinian rule? One million Arabs live peacefully under Israeli rule.”
In his speech, Olmert also stated that this withdrawal from Judea & Samaria “would reduce friction between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Klein responded, “Olmert previously promised us that leaving Gaza would ‘reduce friction’ between Israelis and Palestinians and largely end terrorism from Gaza. But, in fact, the terrorism, and arms smuggling has gotten worse while al-Qaeda and Iranian forces have now located there. Missiles continue to fly into Israel every single day. We can only assume leaving Judea & Samaria will also turn that area into a terrorist stronghold, threatening Israel’s major population centers. Also, Meir Shitreet, Minister of Housing, said, ‘My problem with Olmert’s plan is that you get a Palestinian quasi-state without a peace agreement and the terror continues.'”