Speaking at the tenth annual Herzliya Conference at the Interdisciplinary Center, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned of the dangers of apartheid, should Israel refrain from withdrawing from Judea and Samaria to create a Palestinian State.
As long as west of the Jordan River there is only one political entity called Israel, it will not be Jewish or democratic, he explained.
The former Prime Minister was speaking in a panel entitled Prospects of Peace: the Israeli-Palestinian Track, together with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
“If we don’t give Arabs the vote it is apartheid and is not compatible with the Zionist dream. Giving the Arabs the vote would destroy Israel as a Jewish state,” Barak stated. Accordingly, he told a packed hall, the only solution must be an end to what he termed the occupation. 5tjt