WEYMOUTH: It is rumored that you will replace Barak as the Labor Party’s candidate for prime minister. PERES: The only one who can decide this is Ehud Barak.
The candidate can be changed up to four days before the election. Isn’t this so? I must be careful not to cut [Barak] down. I’m supporting him as much as I can. I announced last week that I am not a candidate and there was a hope that this would increase Barak’s standing and decrease mine in the polls [which now show Barak lagging as many as 16 points behind Sharon while Peres runs neck and neck]. But, in fact, that helped the prime minister by only 1 or 2 percent.
So, it appears that Barak will go down to a crushing defeat. He may think he can do better with the Russian vote. He is the elected candidate and has the right to run.
How do you see Clinton’s role in attempting to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? He did a brilliant job, negotiating between two impossible sides and keeping their confidence until the last minute. He also brought the parties close to a permanent solution. Israelis and Palestinians now have an understanding of what the future will be. What remains unsolved is the Temple Mount and the holy city.
Was it a mistake on Barak’s part to surprise Arafat at Camp David with far-reaching ideas without laying the groundwork first? Each of us makes mistakes. He tried a different approach that might have worked.
Do you believe Barak went too far on Jerusalem? He didn’t intend to. I think he really wanted to finalize an agreement and Jerusalem came to the center.
Why didn’t Arafat take what he was offered? He thought maybe he could get more.
The Clinton administration offered the Palestinian Authority sovereignty over the Temple Mount–the layer aboveground. The Palestinians got the top and we got the Wailing Wall. But even on the Wailing Wall, there are two definitions. One is the Wailing Wall, which is 57 meters wide; another the Western Wall, which is 470 meters wide. It is an extension of the foundation of the temple. Clinton spoke about the Western Wall, but Arafat couldn’t accept that.
Could Arafat have stopped the violence? I think he tried. He does not have absolute control over the situation. He felt he could not detach himself from the feelings of the people. The intifada started after the visit of Sharon [to top of the Temple Mount].
Why did the peace talks at Taba break down? In fact, the territorial gap is narrow. There began to be some understanding about the settlements: the Palestinians agreed in principle to have a concentrated place for the settlements. But the two issues we couldn’t find a solution to were Jerusalem and refugees because of the shortage of time. [The Palestinians] realized that a little bit too late. For the Israelis, it was impossible to compromise any more with the polls as they were.
Was it Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount that set off the violence? Yes. I think he did it to impress Bibi Netanyahu, but the Arabs took it as a provocation against them.
If Sharon becomes prime minister, is that the end of the peace process? What he is suggesting is to make peace without the Arabs. But you can’t have peace without the Arabs. I don’t see the Palestinians going back to a partial agreement and keeping the settlements as they are, without any changes.
Sharon has said he favors a unity government. How can you have a unity government if you don’t have a unity policy?
Should the Bush administration be as involved in the Middle East as the Clinton administration was? I think they don’t have a choice. The Middle East is part and parcel of every foreign policy. It’s a large area, a great variation of people. It’s religion; it’s history.
Even if the Bush administration wants to draw back, will [the Mideast] draw it in? It cannot fail. I hear Secretary of State Colin Powell wants to renew the gulf-war coalition. This is a Middle East coalition. You don’t have a choice. You cannot let a wild person like Saddam Hussein threaten Saudi Arabia or have a nuclear weapon. The greatest danger in the future will be terrorism instead of war. Look what one person like Osama bin Laden has done to American foreign policy. You cannot close your eyes.
