From its 1948 inception, Israel sought peace and all it got in return was wars and the disastrous Oslo Accords.
Oslo Accords For Coexistence
Signing the Oslo Accords was one more attempt by Israel to reach coexistence with the Arabs surrounding Israel who, for years, terrorized and attacked the Jews living in Israel.
The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headed then by terrorist Yasser Arafat.
Oslo I Accord, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of the ongoing Israel-Arab conflict. It was the first face-to-face agreement between the government of Israel and the PLO.
The negotiations, an outgrowth of the 1991 Madrid Conference, a peace conference, was held from October 30th to November 1st, 1991 in Madrid, Spain, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. The Madrid Conference continued; it was conducted secretly in Oslo, Norway, hosted by the Faso Institute, the Peace Research Institute that conducts research on the conditions for peaceful relations between states, groups and people.
Oslo Accord I
Oslo I Accord was completed on August 20th 1993; it was officially signed at a public ceremony in Washington, D.C., on September 13th, 1993, in the presence of PLO chairman Yasser Arafat, Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and U.S. President Bill Clinton.
The Accord’s documents were signed for the PLO, by Mahmoud Abbas, at that time Arafat’s right hand man, today the Palestinian Authority (PA) everlasting president-Rais (Muslim ship’s captain); for Israel, by Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres; for the US, by Secretary of State Warren Christopher and for Russia, by Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev.
Oslo Accord II
Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, by Israel and the PLO. Four days later, on September 28, 1995, also signed in Washington D.C. by then Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and witnessed by US President Bill Clinton as well as by representatives of Russia, Egypt, Jordan, Norway, and the European Union (EU).
All intentions to achieve peace were honest on the side of Israel. For Arafat, whose true intention was far from coexistence, it was one step forward to destroy Israel.
What Ensued After Oslo Was Carnage
The Israelis who so much wanted peace tolerated the ongoing sprees of murder of Jews by suicide bombing and terror of all sorts and called the hundreds of Jewish victims “victims of the peace process.”
What country but Israel would actually believe that terror would lead to peace?
Israel got no peace; the Arabs celebrated from one dead Jew to another.
What Is Happening at the PA?
Subsequent to the Oslo Accords the Palestinian Authority (PA), headed by the Fatah Party was born with headquarters in the Gaza Strip. The PA was corrupt and lawless, and Arabs under its authority became fed up. In a 2007 election the Arabs elected Hamas to govern them. Hamas violently ousted Fatah from Gaza and have been in charge of the Strip ever since.
Exchanging Fatah for Hamas was like running from one sinking ship to another.
The Fatah Party reorganized themselves and established their headquarters in the city of Ramallah.
Since then there were two PAs. In effect, a three state “solution”: Hamastan-Gaza, the PA and Israel.
The heinous October 7, 2023 massacre the Hamas terror group perpetrated in Israel, opened the eyes of Israelis to the reality they did not want to face since the signing of the Oslo Accords which they address as the “konceptziya.” The dream of peace with the Arabs of Gaza or the PA has melted away like a pinch of salt thrown into boiling water.
While Israel is at war with Hamas, working to destroy its terror henchmen, it is becoming clearer by the day that the PA, a supposedly demilitarized peace partner, appears to be a replacement for Hamas. A fully trained and equipped army ready to fight Israel.
Reason to Call the Oslo Off
It has become very clear that the Israel-Arab “Peace Process” fell apart three decades after the 1st 1993 Oslo Accord was signed.
It is time to call the Oslo Accords off.
Not only has Hamas attacked Israel, but the PA emulates Hamas actions with its own ongoing terror against Israel.
Israel’s Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich Actions
In an urgent letter to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich demands an appropriate Zionist response to the PA’s unilateral actions. Smotrich informed Netanyahu of the stoppage of tax money transfers to the PA. Meaning: risking the danger of the PA’s financial collapse.
On Wednesday, May 22, 2024, Smotrich addressed Netanyahu and announced a number of immediate measures to be taken against the PA.
In his letter Smotrich wrote, “At the last cabinet meeting, many ministers, including myself, raised an unequivocal demand for harsh punitive measures against the PA for its unilateral actions against Israel, including its pursuit of unilateral recognition as a state in the United Nations (UN), the framework of bilateral agreements with several countries, and the legal battle it has been waging against the State of Israel in the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, in order to bring the war in Gaza to a halt, a war Israel cannot lose.”
“In the discussion, several ideas were brought up and it seems that there is an absolute majority regarding the need to act immediately and not to be satisfied with the declaratory decision passed by the government,” the letter said.
At the conclusion of that discussion, a team of ministers at the National Security Headquarters was tasked with formulating a recommended list of steps within 24 hours.
Since this cabinet meeting took place, the decision of the anti-Semitic prosecutor at The Hague Tribunal to issue arrest warrants against PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Yoav Galant, as part of a case in which the PA is the plaintiff, was published.
Netanyahu called it an absurd decision and new antisemitism.
“To remind you, already two weeks ago I contacted you and demanded the formulation of acute response measures. But unfortunately the matter is prolonged and there are those who are probably trying to dissolve it, Smotrich wrote in his letter.
“In the discussion that took place yesterday, at the National Security, officials and advisers in their own way presented a host of reasons why ‘this is not the right timing’… I do not intend to allow the officials to dissolve this matter! There is great urgency for an immediate response that will exact a significant price from the PA for its actions, totally adverse to the Oslo Agreement, deter it and other countries and stop the drift,” the letter continued.
“I therefore demand that you immediately approve the following steps … ,” the letter concluded and stipulated.
The Steps Smotrich Placed for Government Approval Are
1/ An immediate convening of the Planning Council in Judea and Samaria for the approval of tens of thousands housing units that are already ripe for professional advancement, including in area E1 Zone*.
*The Israeli building program known as E1 (East-1), situated between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, has been a major point of friction with the PA. Though first proposed decades ago, it has yet to be properly implemented.
2/ A decision, to be approved at the following day cabinet’s meeting, on the establishment of a settlement in Israel against any country that unilaterally recognizes a “Palestinian” state. According to the publications, three countries – Norway, Spain and Ireland – already announced their unilateral recognition of a “Palestinian” state. Smotrich informed Mr. Netanyahu that he has instructed the Settlements Directorate to prepare a decision-making text with three strategic settlements and he demanded that such a decision be approved within one day.
3/ Another decision that will be brought to the cabinet at once is on the cancellation of the “Norwegian Law outline”* that was approved by the cabinet a few months ago.
*The Norwegian law, first adopted in 2015, leads to an increase in the number of Knesset members available for parliamentary work. Institute researchers recommend incorporating amendments and mechanisms that will increase the Knesset’s ability to monitor the government.
The Norwegian law led to the resignation of 21 ministers and deputy ministers. Even if adopted, mainly in order to increase political rewards, it contributes overall to the strengthening of the Knesset and democracy – mainly thanks to the increase in the number of Knesset members available for parliamentary work – and will be able to contribute even more if amended according to the detailed outline.
However, Norway was the first country to unilaterally recognize a “Palestinian” state and it cannot be a partner in anything related to Judea and Samaria, Smotrich emphasized. As the Finance Minister, Smotrich intends to stop transferring the funds to Norway and demands the return of all the already transferred funds.
4/ Advancing the proposed decision to strengthen Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria, a decision that was supposed to be approved immediately after the recent Sukkot holiday and was postponed due to the war that was forced upon Israel at the last day of this holiday. “The settlements project in Judea and Samaria is Israel’s protective shield. As part of the lessons of the 7th of October it is required to strengthen it Zionistically wise so that, God forbid, the City of Kfar Saba in central Israel does not become Kibbutz Kfar Azza in south-west Israel, a kibbutz that suffered tremendously on October 7, 2023, by Hamas attack on Israel,” the letter said.
The Minister of Finance agreed to find the necessary budgets for this proposal.
5/ Canceling, permanently, all the PA senior officials VIP permits in all the border crossings and imposing additional financial sanctions on PA senior officials and their families.
6/ In addition to the above, Smotrich informed PM Netanyahu that from now and until further notice he does not intend to transfer the tax money Israel collects for the PA and then transfers it to them every month.
Additionally, as of a letter he published early May 2024, Smotrich also does not intend to extend the existing indemnification to the PA banks’ correspondent banks.
As for me, the writer, I need to remind Israel that no one with clear thinking signs an agreement with terrorists, in this case it was Yasser Arafat. Terrorists do not adhere to any agreement nor international laws. Their business is terror as Israel experienced on October 7, 2023, perpetrated during its agreed ceasefire with Hamas.
Israel is surrounded by terror entities; near ones are Hamas, Palestinian Authority (PA), and Hezbollah, and the far is Iran. It is time to empty the stables.
