Via Hebew radio, Israeli Minister of Environmental Protection, Amir Peretz, strongly criticized, on Saturday evening, the right-wing ‘Jewish Home’ party, describing it as ‘the party of national hypocrisy’, with accusations of empathetic support for settlers, if even indirectly.According to a report by the Palestinian News Network (PNN), Peretz expressed, in an interview with Israeli TV Channel 2, his belief that the time has come for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take position, on either an extreme right-wing stance or that of a peaceful posture, with regard to the ongoing crisis in the region.
He spoke of the impossibility of survival for the party, or any government that is not actively engaged in the peace process and, at the same time, criticizing the punitive measures most recently taken by the Netanyahu government against the Palestinian Authority, following their requests to join several international treaties.
For his part, a senior Israeli official said, in an interview with Israeli Channel 7, that there will be no peace deal without the consummation of the previously agreed upon release of 48 Palestinian prisoners, despite threats coming from Israeli Minister of Economy, Naftali Bennett, of withdrawal from the government, with note to the fact that this is the most prominent issue being reflected in the dialog being held, these days.
In turn, the official said, with regard to negotiation attempts by Minister of Justice, Tzipi Livni, that he can not allow any party, within the government, which causes the peace process to fail, referring specifically to threats by the ‘Jewish Home’ party.
