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Sharon to 'Post': There Is No Military Solution
Thursday, September 26, 2002
By Caroline B. Glick
The Jerusalem Post

What I just laid out are the general principles of the plan. These principles must be translated into clear action on the ground by a new Palestinian leadership. These actions include several components.



[ ... ]

I would define these as very difficult conditions but absolutely necessary ones. If they are not met, it will be impossible to advance in a diplomatic process. Israel will not agree, under any conditions, to enter into a situation of an agreement, let alone a situation of purported peace, if the terror continues. These are Israel's demands. These were all agreed upon between Israel and the Americans. And we stand by these demands.



In a comprehensive interview with The Jerusalem Post at his official residence on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shared his thoughts about the topics of the day. Sharon discussed his perspective on the possibility that the country is forced to respond to an Iraqi attack during a US-led campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime.

He detailed his thoughts about the path to settling the war with the Palestinians and discussed his commitment to his national unity government. He spoke of the operational difficulties involved in the fight against Palestinian terrorism and discussed allegations that he was traumatized by the Lebanon War.

Finally, he shared his plans to bring a million Jews here over the next decade and spoke of his expectations from world Jewry.

Following is the full text of the full interview.

How do you respond to the statement by US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in his testimony before Congress last week that if Israel is attacked during an American led attack on Iraq that it shouldn't respond?

First of all, we support the US's moves. We have not interfered at all. We have not tried to speed up an action or to postpone one. We appreciate the importance of this operation. We will of course provide all assistance that we are called upon to provide, just as we did during the war in Afghanistan.

As to the subject itself, I hope that the US's mode of operation with its coalition partners will be such that a potential attack against Israel will be averted. If Iraq attacks Israel, but does not hit population centers or cause casualties, our interest will be to not make it hard on them. If, on the other hand, Israel is harmed, if we suffer casualties or if non-conventional weapons of mass destruction are used against us, then definitely Israel will take the proper actions to defend its citizens.

Can you imagine a situation in which Israel responds with a counterstrike against Iraq even in the face of staunch opposition from the US?

I don't think that is the situation that we are facing. I hope that the US, in its understanding of the situation here, will take all possible actions to prevent us from reaching that type of situation. Of course, Israeli citizens cannot be exposed to harm without Israel acting to defend its citizens. I believe that this point is clear in Washington. I made it clear during my conversations in Washington. I also believe that there is a full understanding of the need to act in a manner that will make it impossible to harm Israel.

When prime minister Yitzhak Shamir acceded to American pressure during the Gulf War and did not respond to Iraqi missile attacks on Israel, he was repaid by the US with a suspension of loan guarantees for aliya absorption and, as a result, lost power in the 1992 elections. Do you think that if in the coming US attack on Iraq, Israel accedes to US pressure and again restrains itself, the US will respect us for our efforts on its behalf?
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