‘Israel should offer concessions to Hamas’ — Diskin

In an interview with Der Spiegel Online, former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin criticizes Israeli government decisions leading up the conflict in Gaza, and urges Netanyahu to offer concessions to Hamas.

“It was a mistake by Netanyahu to attack the unity government between Hamas and Fatah under the leadership of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas,” says Diskin. “Israel should have been more sophisticated in the way it reacted. We should have supported the Palestinians because we want to make peace with everybody, not with just two-thirds or half of the Palestinians. An agreement with the unity government would have been more sophisticated than saying Abbas is a terrorist. But this unity government must accept all the conditions of the Middle East Quartet. They have to recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and recognize all earlier agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.

“Only the Egyptians can credibly mediate,” Diskin adds. “But they have to put a more generous offer on the table: the opening of the border crossing from Rafah into Egypt, for example. Israel must also make concessions and allow more freedom of movement.”

He also blames the Israeli right for creating the conditions that led to the death of Jerusalem teen Muhammed Abu Khdeir at the hand of Jewish extremists.

“People like Naftali Bennett have created this atmosphere together with other extremist politicians and rabbis. They are acting irresponsibly; they are thinking only about their electorate and not in terms of the long-term effects on Israeli society — on the state as a whole.”