I admit that I was saddened to read Itamar Fleischmann's remarks that normalization with Saudi Arabia would be a knockout for the peace camp, because it would not include stipulations on the Palestinian issue.
As a reminder, Itamar, when the peace treaty with Egypt was signed between Begin and Sadat, there were cries and political divisions on the right, and it was the peace camp that gave him the necessary majority in the Knesset, even though it was not conditional on an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.
When another Likud leader, Ariel Sharon, led the unilateral (problematic) withdrawal from Gaza, the peace camp gave him a majority in the Knesset, despite criticism that he did not do so as part of the interim agreement with the PLO.
When the Abraham Accords were signed, they had the support of the peace camp, even though they did not involve an Israeli-Palestinian agreement. The reason for this is simple: the peace camp supports peace.
If there is a normalization agreement between us and the Saudis, it will again be applauded by the peace camp, simply because we believe that Israel's integration in the region is vital to our security for years to come.
This is a knockout to the longstanding Arab perception that saw Israel as a temporary phenomenon, like a crusader, in this region. Not a knockout for the left and not a knockout for the right.
Our main interest is to avoid a situation in which a Jewish minority controls an Arab majority west of the Jordan River. Whether by perpetuating the occupation, annexation and legislation that violates the basic rights of Palestinians, which may, God forbid, realize the claims of Israeli apartheid, or by creating a situation that will cause Palestinians to emigrate en masse.
An agreement with Saudi Arabia would be an important contribution to cementing Israel's standing in the Middle East, but it would not advance the promise of a stable Jewish majority. Saudi Arabia has been a permanent member of the Multilateral Talks Forum, which has been held with 13 Arab countries and many others from the Madrid Conference in 1991 to 1996. The forum discussed, among other things, projects that included a regional investment bank, a water desalination project and other issues, some of which have been implemented over the years. But the Saudis have consistently displayed a reluctant and even cynical attitude toward these projects.
The writer of these lines headed the Israeli delegation to the multilateral talks, and at one of the meetings of the steering committee, in which the heads of all the delegations participated, I asked to speak privately with my counterpart, the Saudi deputy foreign minister.
I asked him about the cold shoulder. His answer was: "Do you know that in Saudi Arabia women are not allowed to learn to drive, not just to drive?" In order not to leave me gaping, he clarified: "With us, everything happens slowly."
I won't be happier if Saudi Arabia decides to change its position, even if a dramatic move on the Israeli-Palestinian level is not included, but the right's joy at the absence of a Palestinian chapter is when a child protested the dentist's announcement that an appointment would be postponed. The division of the land between us and the Palestinians must not be postponed if you are a true Zionist.
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