Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon made a statement during an interview published in the London Arabic language daily, A-Sharq Al-Awsat that would certainly surprise and anger the American Middle East envoy George Mitchell. According to the Hebrew version of their Ha’aretz article, “Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon: The Settlements Are Not An Obstacle To A Peace Agreement,” David Ravid and Jack Khoury report that Ayalon claimed that the United States and Israel have a united position in regard to the subject of Palestine which assumes:
Abu Mazen is no different than Arafat, he called for a return to terror at a Fatah conference. On one hand he speaks of peace and wants gestures from our side and on the other hand he attacks us.
This provocative statement is at complete odds with the present public positions of the American and Israeli governments which is that Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) is their sole potential peace partner and that he should begin immediate negotiations with the Netanyahu government. It is unclear if Ayalon is accurately reflecting what his Prime Minister actually believes. It has been claimed by many critics that Netanyahu only talks about negotiating with Abbas to placate the Americans.
In the English version of the same article, which has the more provocative title, “Ayalon Touts Population Swap in Peace Deal,” Ha’aretz reports a series of provocative opinions given by the Israeli minister that are sure to anger Palestinians and Arabs. In the interview Ayalon suggested that Israel may want to transfer some of its Arab citizens to a future Palestinian state, accused Saudi Arabia of funding incitement against Israel and claimed that Iran is the “severest threat to the world since Hitler.” However, there was no mention of Ayalon’s comparison between Arafat and Abbas. It is not uncommon for Ha’aretz to print substantially different versions of the same story in its Hebrew and English versions, though the newspaper has repeatedly stated that it does not tailor its reports to the separate audiences in its different language editions.
Ayalon might just be the Israeli Dan Quayle– or Spiro Agnew! He is known for his confrontational speech and controversial behavior. Recently, he sought to embarrass the Turkish ambassador to Tel Aviv. His arrogant and undiplomatic actions were widely criticized and resulted in his own government formally apologizing to the Turks.
