“Fold Up the Road Map”

Sharon believes that the Palestinian children are raised on the milk of Israel hatred, and that they will not rest until the country is wiped out. Therefore, a peace treaty with them is of no value whatsoever, and Israel is left with no alternative but to subdue the enemy by force, until it capitulates and makes do with the little it is offered.
Peretz, on the other hand, began his discourse with members of the Palestine Liberation Organization more than 20 years ago in his capacity as Sderot mayor when Israeli-Palestinian meetings were not yet in fashion. By the way, his wife, Ahlama, recently completed a course for mediators for meetings between Jews and Arabs.
The Peretz family believes that their neighbors also have much to gain from peace and much to lose from its absence. In others words, they believe that the Arabs are no less rational than the Jews, and that the unemployed individual from the Balata refugee camp, like the unemployed individual from Sderot, will support a leadership and policy that will offer him a livelihood, ensure a good education for his children, and fight against those elements that threaten to harm his life and welfare. Peretz believes that human life is sevenfold more important than a few kilometers of sand in the West Bank or the Golan Heights. Peretz has long said that the occupation corrupts the occupier, and Israel has had more losses than benefits from the occupation of such territories. Were it up to Peretz, he would present Abbas with an offer he could not refuse, and renew talks with Syria at the point at which Barak broke them off.
Yet, Peretz is far from being a naive pacifist. He knows that the Israeli public is in love with the separation fence, stuck on the "united Jerusalem" slogan, and fearful of the massive return of Palestinian refugees. Therefore, he might suggest making some amendments to the route of the fence in order to minimize its effect on the lives of the Palestinians; for Jerusalem, he will propose religious autonomy without dividing the city; and when it comes to the refugees, he will seek solutions outside of the country’s borders, with a few exceptions based on family reunification.