Bibi says he's looking for a Sadat, but Abbas is looking more like Arafat

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told some 300 Likud activists at a pre-Rosh Hashana toast inTel Aviv Monday that they need not worry about his trip to Washington to begin direct talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The audience did not appear concerned. They didn't heckle or boo him even when he spoke openly about the possibility of diplomatic concessions. “I know there are [Likud] members who are worried,” he said. “I want to make clear to you that you don’t have to worry. No one has to teach me and my friends about love for the Land of Israel or about the connection between vision and diplomatic realities and between a warm heart that loves the homeland and the realization that we are in a complicated situation.”

Netanyahu promised the Likudniks that he would be careful and responsible and insist on security guarantees. “We won’t be satisfied with papers and promises,” he said. “We want real peace agreements that guarantee the security of Israel and the benefits of peace and prosperity for Israel and its neighbors and if possible for the rest of the Arab world.”

Netanyahu recalled that it was the Likud under Menachem Begin that made peace with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. He challenged Abbas to follow in Sadat’s footsteps in bringing about real peace. “I know that there are two sides. I want to give this time and resources. I hope to find a courageous partner as Begin found in Sadat.”

But he may need to keep searching. Abbas is indicating that if Netanyahu does not extend the building freeze in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem, the talks would reach an abrupt end and Israel would be blamed.

Likud MK Danny Danon said following the speech that Netanyahu did not reassure him. He said that when Netanyahu scolded the crowd for thinking they could teach him about love for the Land of Israel, he sounded like former prime minister Ariel Sharon before he announced his Gaza Strip disengagement plan in 2005.

Naftali Bennett, director-general of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, handed out calendars at the event featuring pictures of Netanyahu visiting settlements and quotes from him and his ministers about ending the freeze on time. He, like Danon, sounded unconvinced by Netanyahu’s speech.

“When we are told by Netanyahu not to worry, we start worrying,” said Bennett, who is Netanyahu’s former chief of staff. Half a dozen far-right activists led by Baruch Marzel demonstrated outside the fairgrounds holding signs with slogans such as “If there is a freeze, there won’t be a government,” which rhymes in Hebrew.