Sderot Media Center: “Gaza must be taken under consideration in the peace talks”

In an interview with the Foreign Policy Association, Sderot Media Center CEO Noam Bedein expressed concern that the present situation in Gaza is not being taken under consideration in the context of the peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority: “Right now, there is no mention of Gaza and its Hamas control.  It is absurd it is not mentioned in the peace-talks.”

He stressed that the closer Israel gets to an agreement, more missile escalation, such as those witnessed in southern Israel in recent days, can be expected: “This is because Hamas is not part of the peace process and they control the population in Gaza.   We cannot have a two-state solution until there is a military overthrow of Hamas in Gaza.”

Bedein believes strongly that Gaza should be taken under consideration during the peace negotiations, since no comprehensive Middle East peace can be obtained if residents of Southern Israel are still living under a constant barrage of rocket fire from Gaza.   Even if PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas recognizes Israel as a Jewish state and signs a peace deal with Israel, without the inclusion of Gaza in the equation, it will not succeed to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This does not mean that American decision makers should consider a three-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: “The three-state solution is also absurd.  Hamas calls for genocide in their charter and Israelis are under missile fire.  This conflict has nothing to do with settlements.  It is about Israel proper.  This is not understood.   The more we understand the conflict in Southern Israel and Gaza, the more we understand the basis of the conflict is not being dealt with.”

Bedein stressed that over 20,000 rockets have been fired into Israel after she withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and this fact interferes with the implementation of a land for peace solution from an Israeli security perspective: “We have to take into consideration the adverse affects of withdrawing from the Judea hilltops, given what happened in Gaza.   How many towns like Sderot will be living on the borders of a future Palestinian state?   There is no technology to stop rockets from towns three kilometers away.”

“The rockets have tripled themselves after the withdrawal.  Over a million Israelis are living under Iranian missile fire,” Bedein stressed.  “In Gaza, three months after the disengagement, Al Qaeda cells popped up.   There were three rockets per day on average.   It took two years, according to the Terrorism and Information Center, to do what it took other terror organizations twenty years to achieve.   By 2007, Hamas turned Gaza into the first Arab territory to be controlled by a terrorist organization based in the Middle East.”

“It took seven years to put over a million Israelis under missile fire from Gaza.  How would it take to put most Israelis under missile fire?  If only one rocket was fired at the only international airport in Israel, what would happen?  This must be taken under consideration,” Bedein emphasized. “In our region, rockets only get five seconds of news.   More focus should be on this.”

These factors serve as a serious impediment to the implementation of a two-state for two people solution from the Israeli end and explains why many Israelis, including Israel’s Defense Minister, are skeptical of the peace process with the Palestinian Authority.    Aside from Gaza and the security issues at stake, Bedein also expressed skepticism about Abbas’ credibility as a peace partner: “First of all, Abbas has a PHD in denying the Holocaust.  Second of all, he wasn’t elected by his own people.   In the last democratic election in 2006, Hamas was the one who was elected.   Who is he representing and what percentage of the population?”

According to Bedein, “What matters is what is said in their own language, not what is said in English.   The incitement and the glorified terrorism in the media elements are not being mentioned.   This is going on today.   The level of incitement has been compared to the pre-WWII era.   This is in the media and the schools.  They don’t recognize the history of the Jews.   People should talk about that as well.   No, he can’t be trusted.”

Evidently, most of the Israeli population agrees with Bedein’s assessment.  A Ma’ariv poll taken earlier this week stated that 80 percent of Israelis believe that the U.S. brokered peace negotiations won’t succeed.  Seventy-three percent of Israelis reportedly reject a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Judea and Samaria under any peace deal.  A poll in Israel Hayom found that 70 percent of Israelis reject the idea of withdrawing from the Jordan Valley, while 53 percent of Israelis believe that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was not honest and sincere in pushing peace negotiations.   Arutz Sheva claimed this was because Kerry was reportedly behind recent EU boycotts, as a tool to pressure Israel.

Nevertheless, Bedein stressed that the Jewish people are known to have a diversity of opinion. There is a phrase in the Ladino language, which was spoken by Sephardic Jewry, which states, “Two Jews, three opinions.” Nevertheless, Bedein also noted that the majority of the Israeli population is right wing and understands that the cease-fire with Gaza is only temporary. It isn’t stable and can explode at any second. While there are many views in Israel regarding what the solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should be, most Israelis believe that Gaza cannot be neglected as part of a settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.