Former Mossad Chief Tamir Pardo today joined a slew of Israeli Mossad and Shin Bet chiefs
who lambaste the Israeli government for not taking he initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
Pardo spoke today at the Netanya Academic College. Here are some quotes from is speech, translated from the Hebrew original:
"The Jewish State has one existential threat. It's a time bomb that is ticking all the time and has been ticking for some time. We have chosen to bury our heads in the sand. Deep in the sand. To feed ourselves with alternative facts and escape reality while creating various external threats.
"The government of Israel, since 1967, after the Six-Day War, and until this moment, has left the situation as is.
"Israel must choose what it wants, what is good for it, not for this afternoon, but for years to come, to stop burying our heads in the sand, to deal with the demographic reality and with the question of which country we want. Life in the shadow of alternative facts spells disaster for the Zionist enterprise. The writing is on the wall. All that is needed is to open your eyes and read.
"The key to integration in the Middle East is building economic ties between companies, with the possibility of movement between countries for trade and tourism - all this will not take place unless the Palestinian issue is resolved.
"The State of Israel has chosen not to choose hoping that the conflict will resolve itself. Maybe the Arabs will disappear one day, maybe a cosmic miracle will happen, maybe the US and the world will force us to accept a solution and it will be justified. And maybe we will reach a bi-national state because we will not be able to disentangle the two populations. That's what it’s like when you do not decide. Time does not stop, reality changes and with it the conditions and alternatives for a solution.
"As time goes by, the options gradually diminish and we are getting closer and closer to the point of no return, in which the only alternative is a bi-national state in which all the residents have equal rights. Is that our aspiration, is this the Zionist vision? Is this the state we will inherit to our grandchildren? The clock is ticking. We ought to address the facts, not the alternative facts, and reach a decision. It’s time for us to choose a path."