Nazir Majally, Asharq Al-Awsat

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 15 November 2003 — Four former Israeli security chiefs sharply criticized Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s policies toward the Palestinians yesterday, warning that Israel is headed for catastrophe if it does not reach a peace deal soon.

The quartet, respected for their combined 18 years experience as leaders of the Shin Bet security agency, called on the Israeli government to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The joint criticism from a group of men with deep knowledge of the conflict with the Palestinians takes the increasingly unpopular Sharon to task not from the perspective of morality, but from that of security, where he has long appeared invulnerable.

“It is clear to me that we are heading toward a crash,” said Carmi Gilon, one of the group.

The warning came as Sharon’s government weighed how to approach the new government of Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, a decision that could determine the future of peace efforts.

Qorei is trying to secure an agreement from Palestinian militants to halt attacks on Israelis in anticipation of a possible truce agreement with Israel.

Israel’s security services are reportedly divided on whether to accept a truce. The military believes a cease-fire is a step in the right direction and is ready to minimize operations, including halting targeted killings of Palestinian militants, the Maariv daily reported yesterday. The current Shin Bet chief fears armed groups will use the lull to reorganize for more attacks.

Sharon has previously rejected any truce plans that would not lead to a swift crackdown on the militants and has not made a final decision on the new offer, Maariv said

Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has played a key role in mediating previous truce efforts, will meet with Qorei and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Monday, Palestinian officials said yesterday. It was unclear if he would meet with Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders to ask for their cooperation.

But Hamas’ spiritual leader ruled out any prospects for an immediate end to attacks on Israelis. “We have no objection to any dialogue with the (Palestinian) prime minister,” Sheikh Ahmed Yassin told a rally in the Gaza Strip yesterday. “We are willing to listen to any proposal. We will give him answers ... but in the current situation, we can’t talk about any cease-fire.”

The quartet of former Shin Bet directors recommended far more than a cease-fire, saying Israel needed a true peace deal as soon as possible. The four — Yaakov Perry, Ami Ayalon, Avraham Shalom and Gilon — spoke in an interview with the Yediot Aharonot daily published yesterday.

“We are taking sure, steady steps to a place where the state of Israel will no longer be a democracy and a home for the Jewish people,” Ayalon told the newspaper.

Their comments came two weeks after Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon said the government needed to ease restrictions — despite the threat of militant attacks — that have increasingly angered ordinary Palestinians.

Perry said it was no coincidence that those closest to the conflict came to the same conclusion. “Why is it that that every one, Shin Bet directors, chiefs of staff, former security personnel — after a long service in the security organizations — become the advocates of reconciliation with the Palestinians?” Perry said.

The Shin Bet is intimately familiar with the conflict. It is in charge of preventing attacks on Israelis, runs a network of Palestinian informers in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat praised the men. “It reflects the realistic policy required from the Israeli side,” he said.