“Israel Accepted Road Map
Only Because of U.S. Pressure”
NEW YORK – A senior Israeli cabinet minister, meeting with Jewish leaders in New York, called the Bush administration’s Road Map plan is “a great victory for terrorists,” and said that the Israeli government accepted the plan “only because of the tremendous pressure that the Bush administration put on Israel.”
Efraim Eitam, Israel’s Minister of Infrastructure, made his remarks at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in New York City on Monday afternoon, July 7.
Eitam, who was a Brigadier-General in the Israeli Army prior to entering politics, said:
* Bush is pressuring Israel: “Tremendous pressure by the Bush administration is what caused the Israeli government to accept the Road Map. U.S. officials have been saying to Israel, ‘Do this now’ and ‘Do this immediately’.”
* The Road Map is a surrender to terror: “The Road Map is a pure reward for terrorism and it’s even worse—it is a surrender to terrorism.”
* Creating a Palestinian Arab state is victory for terrorists: “The establishment of a Palestinian state, in response to three years of Palestinian terrorism, will be the greatest victory for terrorism, and it will show terrorism everywhere that they can succeed and change history.”
* The “Hudna” cease-fire allows the terrorists to rebuild: The so-called “Hudna,” or temporary cease-fire by some of the terrorist groups, “simply gives the terrorist time to repair their damaged infrastructure.” He added: “Under the cover of this so-called cease-fire, the terrorist groups are already greatly accelerating their production of rockets and preparing for the next round in their war to destroy Israel.”
* The Road Map was formulated without consulting Israel: “The Road Map was invented by the State Department to bring about the creation of a Palestinian state. It was designed without the U.S. consulting a single important Israeli leader.”
* The Road Map is more dangerous for Israel than Oslo: “The Road Map is even more dangerous than the Oslo accords, because it will create a Palestinian state that will endanger Israel.”
Morton A. Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), who attended the meeting, said: “Minister Eitam is to be commended for telling American Jews the truth: the Road Map is a State Department invention designed to force Israel to accept a deadly Palestinian Arab terrorist state. The Road Map will undermine America’s war against terrorism by creating a terrorist state and sending a message to terrorists that terrorism pays.”