What Olmert Should Write Abbas

State of Israel
Office of the Prime Minister
Jerusalem, Israel

June 11, 2006

Hon. Mahmoud Abbas
President, Palestinian Authority
Ramallah (by FAX)

Mr. President:

I must inform you of a most serious problem between our governments, and the response my Government has chosen to deal with it.

Nearly a year ago, under the leadership of my worthy predecessor Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the Government of Israel withdrew all armed forces and civilian settlements from Gaza. We did this despite bitter opposition from many of our own people, particularly the 8,500 Israelis living in the area, in part because we have no desire to rule over another people and we determined that the 1.4 million Arabs in Gaza should never become citizens of Israel. We hoped that this withdrawal would signal to all Palestinians that we wish to live alongside them in peace and security.

The response from your people has been a terrible disappointment. First, the election of a Hamas-led government in January, which is commited to destroying Israel, meant that most Palestinians (although excluding you and many of your constituents) intend to continue the conflict between our respective peoples.

More important, the northern area of Gaza has been used by terrorists as a base from which more than 325 Qassam rockets have been fired at Israel since the beginning of 2006. Although most of these rockets have exploded harmlessly, the danger posed by these rocket attacks for death and destruction is unacceptable to the Government of Israel, as it would be unacceptable to any other nation on earth.

We have responded by firing artillery shells at the launching sites. Unfortunately, some of these shells have missed their intended targets and killed innocent civilians, for which we are deeply sorry. Moreover, this strategy has failed to stop the rocket attacks, which have increased during the past few days.

Accordingly, my Government has reluctantly decided that Israeli armed forces must re-occupy the northern portion of Gaza and establish a security zone approximately 4 to 6 kilometers deep, and erect a new security fence between this zone and Gaza City. However, unlike the occupation that began in 1967, we have decided that no civilian settlers will be permitted to enter (or re-enter) the security zone, which will be used for military purposes only.

As we have no desire to harm Palestinian forces, I ask that you withdraw the forces under your control a minimum of six kilometers from the current border and order them not to resist or interfere in any way with the action outlined above. Be advised that the IDF will be sufficiently armed and ready to eliminate anyone who interferes with their mission.

All buildings and homes in the Gaza Security Zone will be searched for arms and wanted terrorists. Residents of the Zone who have no arms and are not involved in activity hostile to Israel are welcome to remain in their homes.

The Israeli army will remain in this area as long as the threat of rocket attacks from the area persists. If rockets are launched against our territory from positions beyond the new security fence, the Government of Israel reserves the right to move the security fence deeper into Gaza.

I hope that you are able to convince the Hamas leadership of the futility and negative consequences of continuing to attack Israel. However, even if you cannot do so, my Government will exercise the most important right and obligation of any sovreign state, which is to protect its people from harm.

With the most sincere hope for peace between our peoples,

/s/ Ehud Olmert, MK
Prime Minister