Ex-spy chiefs say Israel facing disaster

By Sharmila Devi in Jerusalem (The Financial Times)

Published: November 14 2003 16:51 |

Israel is heading for a "catastrophe" unless government policy switches course to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, four former heads of the Shin Bet security service said on Friday.

The unprecedented attack, in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper, follows recent criticism by Moshe Yaalon, the Israeli army chief, who said the crackdown in the occupied territories was against Israel's "strategic interest" in fostering militancy. However, the current Shin Bet leadership favours maintaining tough restrictions to prevent attacks.

"We are heading downhill towards near-catastrophe," said Yaakov Peri, who was head of Shin Bet from 1995 to 1998. "If nothing happens and we go on living by the sword, we will continue to wallow in the mud and destroy ourselves."

The second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, started just over three years ago. Since then, Israel has sent troops back into the West Bank and enforced a policy of blockades and curfews on the 3.3m Palestinians to foil suicide bombs and other attacks. Meanwhile, the US-backed "road map" towards peace remains stalled while the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships inch slowly towards renewed talks.

Ariel Sharon, Israel's hawkish prime minister, was overwhelmingly re-elected in January but domestic criticism of his policies is mounting. Unofficial peace initiatives by former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have also been gaining publicity.

One peace plan has been put forward by Ami Ayalon, a former Shin Bet chief, with Sari Nusseibeh, a leading Palestinian intellectual. Like another plan, known as the Geneva accord, it outlines a two-state solution, including the evacuation of Jewish settlers.

"We are heading towards a situation in which Israel will not be a democracy and home to the Jewish people," Mr Ayalon said in Friday's interview, referring to demographic trends that point to Palestinians outnumbering Israeli Jews between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river in little more than a decade.

The barrier that Israeli is erecting was also criticised for expropriating West Bank territory and narrowing the possibility of a viable Palestinian state.

"For once and for all, we have to admit there is another side and it has feelings and sufferings and we are behaving disgracefully," said Avraham Shalom, who led the service from 1980 to 1986.

Carmi Gillon, who left Shin Bet in 1996, accused Mr Sharon's government of short-sightedness. "It is dealing solely with the question of how to prevent the next terrorist attack," he said. "It [ignores] the question of how we get out of the mess we find ourselves in today."