Leftists Draft Letter to PM Calling for Peace Talks

Over 100 former high-ranking Israeli army members, police officers and spy chiefs have called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pursue peace with the Palestinians, media reported Monday.

“We, the undersigned, reserve IDF (army) commanders and retired police officers, who have fought in Israel’s military campaigns, know first-hand of the heavy and painful price exacted by wars,” 105 signatories said in a joint letter addressed to Netanyahu.

Excerpts of the letter were published by the Yediot Aharonot website.

It called on Netanyahu to embark on a “courageous initiative” and make peace with the Palestinians and other Arab states.

“We fought bravely for the country in the hope that our children would live here in peace, but we got a sharp reality check, and here we are again sending our children out onto the battlefield,” it said.

“This is not a question of left or right. What we have here is an alternative option for resolving the conflict that is not based solely on bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians, which have failed time and again.

“We expect a show of courageous initiative and leadership from you. Lead — and we will stand behind you,” said the letter.

The website said the letter was the brainchild of major general Amnon Reshef, a former armored corps commander.

It added that Reshef was “sick and tired of a reality of rounds of fighting every few years instead of a genuine effort to adopt the Saudi initiative.” This refers to the Arab Peace Initiative drawn up in 2002 by oil kingpin Saudi Arabia, which called on Israel to withdraw from Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, in exchange for a normalization of ties with Arab countries.

Monday’s letter is the latest in a string of leftist letters to Netanyahu published in the Israeli press in recent months. 

The first “war of letters” began in March, when 50 leftist teens sent a letter to the Prime Minister expressing objections to the mandatory draft for ideological reasons.

Zionist teens – over 200 of them – drafted a counter-letter in response, which quickly went viral. 

Then, in September, 43 left-wing reservists sent a letter to Netanyahu decrying the “crimes” of the IDF against Palestinians. Shortly afterwards, some 200 past and present soldiers in the unit signed a counter-letter debunking the claims and expressing anger at what they said was a politically-motivated smear against the army.