[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: committee chairman MK Tzachi Hanegbi said in a
live interview this morning on Israel Radio that he supported (not just that
he would check with Olmert) the alternative that negotiation details be
presented to the secret services subcommittee. Hanegbi noted the
subcommittee's leak-proof record, despite that at times some members of the
subcommittee are presented with secret plans that they vociferously oppose.
MK Yuval Steinitz said on the same program that while he supported the
alternative for sensitive information, that a general overview of
negotiations could be provided to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee and that there is no reason that details regarding the
negotiations department cannot be shared with the Committee.]
Knesset panel demands account of talks with Palestinians, Syria
By Barak Ravid and Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondents Last update - 08:44
18/05/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/984387.html
Fifteen members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee are
demanding an urgent session on the discussion of core issues with the
Palestinian Authority.
They are demanding reports from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni and chief negotiator Brigadier General (Res.) Udi Dekel on the
matter, and are demanding that Olmert report on the exchange of messages,
via Turkey, with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Olmert is scheduled to brief the committee members next week, but he is not
expected to provide information about peace talks.
"Prime ministers have always kept the details of state negotiations for the
relevant echelon, and I assume that the prime minister will not deviate from
this legitimate practice," committee chairman MK Tzachi Hanegbi said.
Hanegbi said he would check whether Olmert would provide more negotiation
details to the secret services subcommittee, of which opposition leader
Benjamin Netanyahu is a member.
In a letter to Hanegbi, the MKs stated that there is no suitable
parliamentary oversight of Israel's contacts with the PA and Syria.
"We, 15 members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, appeal to you
out of concern for the Knesset's position as supervisor of all government
activities and out of a sense that the prime minister, unlike his
predecessor, is dictating an approach that ignores the committee in
everything related to foreign affairs," they wrote.
"For months, negotiations have been conducted with the Palestinians over
issues affecting Israel's existence and future, with no parliamentary
oversight," the letter said. "In addition, a negotiations department has
been created with dozens of employees. It too does not report to the Knesset
and has no parliamentary supervision of its composition, budget and methods
of operation."
Regarding the issue of Syria, the authors said, "Reports of direct or
indirect negotiations with Syria are coming from Damascus again, without
even minimal parliamentary supervision."
Last week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert noted in his speech to the
presidential conference, "The discussions we are conducting with the
Palestinian Authority are serious. Understandings and agreements have been
reached on very important matters, although not on all of them," he said.
Members of the Israeli negotiating team have expressed similar progress, but
both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides are keeping mum about the content
of the talks and about the understandings that have been reached so far. A
Jerusalem official noted that the fact that there have been no press leaks
"points to the seriousness and depth" of the talks.
The driving force behind the demand for Olmert, Livni and Dekel to report to
the Knesset committee is its former chairman, MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud). The
signatories include both coalition and opposition MKs.
While the committee chairman is not obligated to accede to the MKs' demands,
the fact that a large majority of the committee's members have signed the
letter will make it difficult for him to ignore them.
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