Word: rabin
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...other hand, few Israelis seemed to appreciate the extent to which the invasion of Lebanon may have damaged the peace process. "Sadat is unpredictable," said one foreign ministry official. "How can you tell how he will react?" Practically without exception, Israelis approved of the military action. Former Premier Yitzhak Rabin, who has bitterly criticized Menachem Begin's handling of the peace negotiations in the past, said he thought the government had done the only thing it could in response to the terrorist raid. Another Begin critic, former Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, concluded that the invasion took place ''at the right...
...Rabin: "These Tricks Are So Stupid...
...government of Israel," says Yitzhak Rabin, "has made too many mistakes, more than we can afford. The first mistake was in the method of negotiating with an Arab leader. One must make absolutely sure there is no misunderstanding, especially in private talks. Begin said Sadat promised that Egyptian forces would not move east of the Sinai passes. Later Begin admitted that this was in the context of Israeli forces withdrawing to the international border and the return of sovereignty over all the Sinai to Egypt. Still later it became clear that questions such as settlements and Israeli airbases were...
...third mistake, continues Rabin, was in the process of the negotiations. "Every Israeli Premier since Ben-Gurion used to say that once an Arab leader would meet openly with the Premier of Israel, the conflict could be solved within minutes. Well, President Sadat came, sat, talked, and yet the miracle that was called direct negotiations did not work. But more than that, Begin decided to go to Washington to get President Carter's blessing for his peace plan even before he showed it to the Egyptians; this displayed Begin's obvious lack of confidence in direct negotiations...
...Finally, Rabin accuses both sides of turning serious negotiations into show-business competition on television: "Sadat and Begin remind me of the musical Annie Get Your Gun-anything you can do I can do better. It's a competition to see who will have more time on the American networks and space in the magazines and newspapers. Sometimes I ask myself, are they really serious, or is this a competition between actors...