US forced to rehabilitate former spy Uzi Arad
by Jonathan Cook
Global Research, May 20, 2009
"Nazareth. As might be expected of a former senior official with Israel’s spy agency Mossad, Uzi Arad -- the most trusted political adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister -- has got used to being in the shadows as he exerts influence.
But that is fast changing. Mr Arad was prominent in preparing Mr Netanyahu’s tough positions as he headed for Washington this week to meet Barack Obama, the US president, who is seeking to advance a Middle East peace plan.
Mr Arad, recently appointed the head of Israel’s revamped National Security Council, will oversee an organisation that Mr Netanyahu regards as the linchpin of the new government’s security and foreign policy.....
In an indication of his implacable opposition to a Palestinian state, Mr Arad recently told an interviewer: “We want to relieve ourselves of the burden of Palestinian populations, not the territories.”
He has suggested that the Palestinians be required to become economically self-reliant, in the hope that their leaders will be forced to promote family planning methods to reduce the population. His motto is that the Palestinians need “one man, one job” before they need “one man, one vote”.
He has also promoted a complex territorial exchange involving Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt that would see many Palestinians relocated to the Sinai so that Israel could take control of chunks of the West Bank.
But his greatest vehemence is reserved for Iran -- an antipathy apparently shared by the Israeli prime minister. In the past he has called for “maximum deterrence”, including threats to strike “anything and everything of value” in Iran, including its “holiest sites”.
As Mr Netanyahu’s plane touched down in Washington on Sunday, Mr Arad briefed reporters that Tehran posed an “existential” threat to Israel and that “all options are indeed on the table”."
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