Külügyi Szemle - A Teleki László Intézet Külpolitikai Tanulmányok Központja folyóirata - 2003 (2. évfolyam)
2003 / 1. szám - KÖZEL-KELET - Gazdik Gyula: The evolution of the Israeli party system
Gyula Gazdik reforms with international assistance. These reforms would open the way for the creation of an interim Palestinian State with temporary borders and limited sovereignty, which - three years on - would become a permanent arrangement. Hie president made these proposals - favourable for Israel - on the condition of Israel's withdrawal from the autonomous territories, the improvement of regional security and a settlement with respect to the future of the territories occupied in 1967 within the framework of the UN Security Council resolution 242 and 338. Bush barely touched upon the issue with regard to Israel's settlement policy and other unresolved, yet vital issues. / http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/print/20020624-3.html/ . At the Hezliya Conference held on December 4, 2002, Sharon outlined a proposal endorsing in principle the Bush plan, nonetheless, he stressed that the objective can only be achieved through the combination of the American and Israeli conceptions. His also premised a sequence of objectives: the complete cessation of terror, the replacement of the present Palestinian leadership, and the introduction of wide-scale economic reforms, and once these are implemented, Israel would lift military control. The second phase of the sequence involves the creation of a temporary and demilitarised Palestinian state comprising the present autonomous territories within the bounds of a tightly controlled security zone In the third and final phase negotiations will be opened to determine the final status of the Palestinian state. / http://mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAHOmtvO/ . The divergence with respect to the Sharon and Bush proposals entails - among others - the timetable. Israel rejects the transition from one phase to the next on the basis of a pre-determined timetable and demands that progress be determined on the basis of performance - only once economic reforms have been implemented, will progress into the next phase will be possible. The second divergence concerns the complete absence of objectives requiring finalisation. By his draft plan, Sharon is ostensibly playing for time in respect to the implementation of security measures - the construction of a 380 km long and 8 metre high security wall - separating Israel from the security zones comprising the West Bank and the autonomous territories. Consequently, if Sharon-type politics were to determine the Jerusalem government's political conduct, then the establishment of a „viable" Palestinian state would be untenable for some time to come. 31 The annual growth of GDP amounted to 7 per cent in the first quarter of 1990 and fluctuated around 2 per cent in 1998. Production in 2001 fell to 0.9 per cent and in 2002 - in terms of the industrialised world - declined to an unprecedented 1 per cent. /Linda Sharaby: Israel's Economic Growth: Success Without Security, / http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2002/issue3/jv6n3a3.html/ . Moreover, unemployment has risen from 9.4 to 10.4 during the last two years. /Haaretz, January 1, 2003. / 32 According to Ben-Eliezer, the secession resulted from Sharon's refusal to reschedule a $145 package for the sake of the poorer, low-waged and socially deprived towns from the budget allocated to the settlers. 33 Sharon was the first prime minister to invoke paragraph 22 of the Basic Law to dissolve parliament. Accordingly, if the prime minister is of the opinion that the distribution of power in the Knesset hinders the performance of the government, - with the consent of the State President - he can legislate with respect to the dissolution of parliament and the staging of fresh elections. This procedure is as legitimate as any Knesset legislation / Basic Law: The Government, 1992, http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp7MFAH00hd0/ 34 The plan presented by Ben-Eliezer in May envisaged a three-phase settlement procedure: war against terror, the creation of a security zone and finalisation. The latter in singularly interesting with respect to the future of Jerusalem: the Arab-inhabited eastern part of the city would be under Palestinian jurisdiction; the old city, including Temple Mount, would be an undivided sovereign entity with a special international status. According to Eliezer, Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and the smaller settlements in the West Bank should be liquidated and an agreement should be concluded with respect to territorial exchanges. 35 During the elections Mitzna received 53.9, Eliezer 38.2, Ramon 7.2 per cent of the ballots./ www.haaretzdaily . November 20, 2002 36 Besides Mitzna, Ben-Eliezer, Peres, Matan Vilnai, s Avraham Burg occupied the first five positions on the list. The Iraqi-born Ben-Eliezer, who played an active role in the isolation of Beylin, viewed 60 Külügyi Szemle
