Leave occupied lands, 4 ex-Israeli security chiefs urge

JERUSALEM - Four former Israeli security chiefs sharply criticized Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies toward the Palestinians on Friday, warning in unusually bold terms that Israel is headed for catastrophe if it does not reach a peace deal soon.

The warning comes as Sharon's government weighs how to approach the new government of Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. An expected meeting between the leaders would be the first such high-level encounter in months.

The four former security chiefs, with a combined 18 years' experience as leaders of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, called on the Israeli government to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza Strip as the only way to avoid more violence after more than three years of fighting.

"It is clear to me that we are heading toward a crash," said one, Carmi Gilon.

The Shin Bet is in charge of preventing attacks on Israelis, runs a network of Palestinian informers throughout the West Bank and Gaza and interrogates Palestinian security detainees. The agency also provides security for Sharon.

Their comments came two weeks after the army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, said the government needed to ease restrictions that have increasingly angered Palestinians. Another of the four, Yaakov Perry, said it was no coincidence that those closest to the conflict came to the same conclusion.

"Why is it that that everyone, Shin Bet directors, chiefs of staff, former security personnel ... become the advocates of reconciliation with the Palestinians?" Perry said. "We know the material, the people in the field and, surprisingly enough, both sides."

Qureia, the Palestinian prime minister, is trying to persuade armed Palestinian groups to halt attacks on Israelis in anticipation of a broader truce with Israel.

Israel's security services are reportedly divided on whether to accept a truce. The military believes a cease-fire is a step in the right direction and is ready to halt targeted killings of Palestinian militants, the Maariv daily reported Friday. The current Shin Bet chief is concerned that armed groups will use the lull to reorganize for more attacks.

The former Shin Bet directors recommended far more than a cease-fire, saying Israel needs a true peace agreement as soon as possible.

The four - Ami Ayalon, Avraham Shalom, Perry and Gilon - spoke in an interview with the Yediot Ahronot daily published Friday.

The group of former Shin Bet leaders said that for its own survival, Israel needs to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza Strip even if leads to a clash with some of the 220,000 Jewish settlers who live there.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat praised the former security chiefs.

"It reflects the realistic policy required from the Israeli side," he said.

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