Bereaved Families Demand Party Leaders Clarify Stance on Oslo Accords
Bereaved families and parents have demanded that Israeli party leaders clarify their positions on the Oslo Accords and the division of the West Bank ahead of the elections.
The Oslo Accords are returning to the political spotlight ahead of the upcoming elections. On Tuesday, bereaved families and parents addressed the leaders of all political parties, demanding they clarify whether they intend to continue operating within the division of the West Bank into Areas A, B, and C, or to promote a new policy of returning to open areas.
The initiative is led by the "HaBayta Forum", which brings together bereaved parents and families. Among the signatories are Eliav Libi and Yehoshua Sherman, whose sons David Libi and Yehuda Shmuel Sherman fell in battle. From their perspective, the lessons of three years of warfare are not limited to changing defense concepts on active fronts, but must also apply to Israel's policy in the West Bank.
Demanding a Shift Beyond Oslo
"Over the past three years, the State of Israel has been waging a difficult and multi-front war. We have paid a heavy price and discovered time and again the cost of security concepts that became entrenched in reality and failed to recognize the scale of the threat in time," they wrote. "While fighting on other fronts, Israel chose to treat the West Bank as a secondary arena. Now the time has come for profound change."
The forum welcomes steps promoted in recent years in Area C, but is now asking a broader question: Should Israel continue to operate within the framework created by the Oslo Accords, or dismantle it?
"The time has come to ask whether we can continue to make do with managing the reality created by the Oslo Accords, or whether it is time to break free from the Oslo conception itself," the families wrote.
A Political Test for Party Leaders
The families' proposal goes beyond an ideological rejection of Oslo. They demand the advancement of Israeli presence across all open areas in the West Bank, even beyond Area C, arguing this can be achieved without granting Israeli citizenship to Palestinians living in the region.
To illustrate their point, they cited Israel's takeover of Mount Hermon's peak during the war. "Just as we captured the peak of Mount Hermon without firing a single bullet, we can return to all open areas in the West Bank without firing a single bullet and without naturalizing a single Palestinian," the letter stated.
The forum intends to turn the issue into a political litmus test ahead of the elections, publishing the responses of all party leaders as well as noting those who choose not to respond.
