Role: Benjamin Netanyahu by: Alexander Hamann

[Alex Hamann <alex-hamann@mail.utexas.edu>]

Annotated Bibliography : Benjamin Netanyahu




I)
Knesset Homepage – Knesset Members
http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_print_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=90
The Homepage of the Knesset provides some basic data on it's members.  
A lot of
statistical information on Benjamin Netanyahu can be found here like  
dates of his
roles in the various governments, his public activities and his  
publications. The dates
can presumed to be reliable, however, it should be kept in mind that  
usually the
information published on parliaments'  websites are provided by the  
members
themselves. So one should not think that the information for example  
on his public
activities must be complete.


II)
supporters website
http://www.netanyahu.org/netanyahu.html
This site provides a lot of information on Benjamin Netanyahu, his  
political career,
his political beliefs as well as speeches and essays written by him.  
However, this site
is not officially supported by Netanyahu himself (at least there is  
nothing that
suggests this) and it is run by some supporters of his. That makes  
the information
presented here quite hard to rely on. In fact they can not be used,  
unless verified from
another source. But they can be used to get an idea what to look for  
and where this
could be found. Because of these reasons the whole site and not the  
single documents
that can be found there has been put in this bibliography as one  
single peace.


III)
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/The 
+Signi
ng+of+the+Wye+River+Memorandum+-+Statemen.htm
Statements at the signing of the Wye River Agreement
The White House, Washington D.C.
October 23, 1998
The statements made at the signing of the Wye River Agreement show that
Netanyahu, who in the mid-1990s was very ready to make Arafat  
responsible for the
spread of international terrorism, had to learn that he needed him as  
a partner in any
kind of negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  
Another partner in this
agreement  is  Kong  Hussein  of  Jordan.  The  agreement
(http://www.mideastweb.org/mewye.htm) gives insight in what Netanyahu  
thought
could be negotiated when he was still PM.


IV)
Benjamin Netanyahu: A Limited Palestinian State
Washington Post
June 20, 2003
Final
A25
In this article Netanyahu stresses his opinion on how and under what  
conditions he
thinks a Palestinian State could be negotiated about. It speaks about  
the vital issues
like the return of the Palestinian refugees, the area a Palestinian  
state could include
and the conditions Israel should never hand in in order to obtain  
some vital security
guaranties. It becomes clear that Netanyahu refuses  a fully  
autonomous Palestinian
state and that he is highly concerned about such a state becoming a  
haven for all kind
of terrorists and thus becoming a danger for the rest of the world.


V)
Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel must seek a total military victory; Arafat  
goal is to
destroy the Jewish state.
Chicago Sun-Times
March 31, 2002
29
“The primary objective of Yasser Arafat's terrorist regime is not to  
establish the 22nd
Arab state, but to destroy the only Jewish state.” This quotation  
right from the
beginning of the article shows Netanyahu's perception of the nature  
of Arafat's
regime. It becomes quite clear that Netanyahu sees no way to find a  
peaceful solution
for the conflict. Two goals are mentioned in the article: finding  
international support
– especially – in the US and to carry on fighting the terrorist with  
military means.


VI)
Benjamin Netanyahu: Challenging Totalitarianism:The Root Cause of  
Terrorism
The Asian Wall Street Journal
April 22, 2002
A11
Netanyahu tries to explain the roots of terrorism in this article and  
finds it's roots in
the ideology of totalitarianism. He strongly denies that the  
deprivation of national and
civic rights might lead to terroristic resistance and sees Hitler,  
Stalin, leaders of some
Arab countries like Saddam Hussein and Yasser Arafat all relying on both
totalitarianism and terrorism. The article also supports George W.  
Bush's military
engagement against states that are supposed to support terroristic  
groups. Thus,
Netanyahu's perception on terrorism and the way to fight it are  
clearly expressed here.


VII)
Benjamin Netanyahu: Fighting Terrorism. How Democracies can defeat  
domestic and
international Terrorism.
New York
1995
The Book is supposed to be a guideline to how terrorism can be fought  
and actually
won by western democracies. The author sees terrorism as a phenomenon  
that is
emerging again in the 1990s and this in places where it was once  
unknown. Right in
the beginning of the book it becomes clear how deeply Netanyahu is  
concerned by
terrorism and that sees himself in a lifelong fight against it.  
Netanyahu covers the
means by which he thinks terrorism should be fought against, the  
importance of civil
rights in this fight, the history of terrorism, the role of Islam and  
the danger of the
emerging of a nuclear terrorism.
The author refers to many of the Arab states as “terroristic states”  
and calls the Gaza
Strip a “zone in which terrorism could operate without fear of  
retribution”. Guilty of
this is the Israeli Government that made all this possible.  This is  
one thing about this
book that can be criticised: Netanyahu mixes a scientific analysis  
with the promotion
of his own person, i.e. With Netanyahu the politician. The other  
point is that he
focuses on military means and law enforcement agencies to fight  
terrorism. He
ignores that there are quite different reasons for terrorism and that  
some of them
might better be removed by other means. The book makes one thing  
clear: For
Netanyahu every political aim that is being supported by terroristic  
action is being
disqualified by them. For a peaceful settlement of the conflict  
between Palestinians
and Israel it can thus be concluded that for Netanyahu winning the  
war against the
terrorists comes first.


VIII)
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Benjamin 
+Netanyahu.htm
Fact sheet: Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel Ministry of foreign affairs
The Site provides biographical data and some evaluation of  
Netanyahu's performance
as prime minister. The rejection of the more negotiation orientated  
previous
government becomes clear but also the fact, that despite the  
statements Netanyahu
made before he became PM he could not ignore Arafat as representative  
of the
Palestinian Side.


IX)
Prime Minister Netanyahu: Preparing for the war on terrorism  
(Statement of former
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu before the Government Reform  
Committee,)
September 20, 2001
Congressional Testimony by Federal Document Clearing House
http://global.factiva.com/en/arch/display.asp
This speech, held after 9/11, names clearly some states Netanyahu  
considers as
supporters of terrorism: “Iran,Iraq, Syria, Taleban Afghanistan,  
Yasser Arafat's
Palestinian Authority and several other Arab regimes such as the  
Sudan.” As he later
explains that terror can only be stopped by taking action against the  
states supporting
terrorism, it becomes very clear how Netanyahu can be expected to  
treat the
neighbours of Israel.


X)
Benjamin Netanyahu: Why Israel Needs a Fence
The New York Times
July 13, 2004 Tuesday
Late Edition - Final
Section: Section A; Column 1; Editorial Desk; Pg. 19
The article provides good insight into the way Netanyahu perceives  
the threat from
Palestinian terrorists and the way the fence is supposed to keep them  
away from
Israel.
It also shows, under what preconditions the right wing of the Likud  
party expects
further peace talks to take place. It becomes clear, that Netanyahu  
sees the
surrounding Arab nations and the Palestinian leaders in the need to  
make first steps
towards peace by taking countermeasures against Hamas and Islamic  
Jihad and that
international mediation can only help by putting pressure on these.


XI)
Speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the U.N. General Assembly
September 24, 1998
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1990_1999/1998/9/PM+Netanyahu+Addre
ss+to+United+Nations+General+Ass.htm

In this speech Netanyahu gives an overview over the situation of  
Israel, the relations
between Israel and its neighbours and the conditions he sees as  
indispensable for
further negotiations. Hints can be found in this speech, that  
contrary to earlier
statements by Netanyahu he now recognizes that improvement of the  
economic
situation of the Arabs in the region might have a positive influence  
on the ability to
stop terrorism. However, the idea of granting a possible Palestinian  
state only limited
sovereignty can be found also in this speech – an idea Netanyahu has  
always
promoted. He also does not comment on the Jewish settlements but  
insists that ending
the terror must be the first step towards a peaceful agreement  
between Jews and
Palestinians. This however makes chances for any further negotiations  
more
improbable since the Palestinians expect a clear perspective and  
mutual concessions.