- Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went on the attack
Wednesday, slamming Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for backing a Palestinian
state, and saying if this is Sharon's policy, he would not join a future
Sharon government.
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- In an interview on Army Radio, Netanyahu said if Sharon
wins next week's Likud primaries and continues to support the establishment
of a Palestinian state, "I will, of course, not be able to be a part
of that government."
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- Avoiding economic issues, which only a week ago his campaign
heads said would be the main theme of his campaign, Netanyahu framed the
upcoming primaries as a Likud referendum on a Palestinian state.
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- Sharon, at a campaign address to Likud municipal heads
in Hod Hasharon Wednesday night, did not refer directly to Netanyahu or
his attacks. Rather, he said he had directed his people "not to attack,
to show restraint, not to sting."
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- "I will continue to act with deliberation, responsibly,
and not be dragged after baseless promises and empty slogans," he
continued, saying that some of the comments made Wednesday had already
"done a great deal of damage" to Israel. Leadership, Sharon said,
"is not built through words and slogans."
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- Sharon has said on a number of occasions, most recently
in a television interview last week, that he believes a Palestinian state
- is inevitable. This position, Netanyahu said, places
Sharon beyond the pale for the Likud.
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- Of the three prime ministerial candidates, including
himself, Netanyahu said, "two of them Amram Mitzna in the Labor Party,
and Ariel Sharon, unfortunately inside the Likud, declare that they will
establish a Palestinian state. And only the third candidate aggressively
opposes this." When the 300,000 Likud members go to the polls next
week, he said, they will be deciding whether or not they want there to
be a Palestinian state.
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- "People need to make a true decision," Netanyahu
said. "And they understand that with this election they are establishing
something very fateful whether the Likud will elect a leader who says openly
'I will establish a Palestinian state' when the vast majority know that
this represents a grave risk to the State of Israel."
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- A member of Sharon's team responded that these words
show "Bibi is sweating. Sharon does not need to respond to every slogan."
The source went on to say that the Palestinian state Sharon has said he
imagines would eventually be established will come at the very end of a
number of steps, including an end to terrorism and genuine reform.
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- "It is very simplistic to say he is going to give
the Palestinians a state," the source said.
-
- "Sharon is talking about something that would take
place after many stages, at which point there would be a state that would
believe in peace with Israel, not threaten its existence."
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- The official said Sharon has made no concessions to the
Palestinians, while Netanyahu, when he was prime minister, signed
- the Wye accords and the Hebron agreement. "The facts
are that Netanyahu made risky concessions. Sharon has not. Look at the
facts, don't just listen to the noise."
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- Netanyahu also said that if elected, he would not try
to form a national unity government with a Labor Party headed by Mitzna.
Sharon has said repeatedly that he would try to set up another unity government,
even though Mitzna has indicated he would not bring Labor into a Sharon-led
cabinet.
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