Zbigniew Brzezinski Explains Palestinians did not turn down the peace process - Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon did.

Brzezinski to Joe Scarborough: "You have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on it's almost embarrassing to listen to you."

Brzezinski: “The right question is not, What do we do when we break down?

The right question is, What do we do to AVOID a breakdown?”

Scarborough: “You can’t blame what is happening right now in Israel on the Bush administration.”

Brzezinski: “Yes you can. Yes you can.”

SCARBOROUGH: “You know Bill Clinton gave Arafat and the Palestinians everything they could have wanted.”

DR. BRZEZINSKI: “You have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on that it's almost embarrassing to listen to you."

SCARBOROUGH: “Oh is it?”

DR. BRZEZINSKI: “If you were to look more closely at what happened at the Camp David discussions you would know that what you just said is absolutely wrong.

There were all sorts of provisions and catches to the so-called proposal; and it wasn’t rejected. The negotiations went on in Taba. (Egypt)

And then there were elections in Israel, and Sharon came in and everything got boarded.

In the last eight years we had a policy in which we have proclaimed we had an interest in peace.

Condeleeza Rice travelled 16 times in 21 months to the region proclaiming, You must do this, you must do that; but the United States never exerted itself.

Are we going to be sitting there issuing condemnations against Hamas or Israel or anybody else? or are we going to be seriously engaged in the peace process? That is the question.”

Scarborough: “I look forward to you educating me and the rest of America and the rest of the foreign policy community….who have said time and again, Arafat walked away from the best deal he could have got.”

Brzezinski: “He did not walk away. What he said was, I’m going to take the proposals to all of the Arab capitals and see how they react; because the proposals were controversial. And then the negotiations went on - even after Christmas - where Clinton and Arafat met; and they were going on in Taba in January, after Clinton was already leaving office.”

NEW YORK TIMES 1996:

8 High Ex-U.S. Aides Ask Netanyahu to Shun Pre-emptive Acts

• By Steven Erlanger

• Dec. 16, 1996

Concerned that the Israeli Government's settlement policies are harming the chances for peace in the Middle East, eight former high-ranking American officials have written to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him ''not to take unilateral actions that would preclude a meaningful settlement and a comprehensive and lasting peace.''

The letter, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times, was to be delivered today to Mr. Netanyahu, said one of the signers, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security adviser under President Carter.

The other signers are James A. Baker 3d, Cyrus R. Vance and Lawrence S. Eagleburger, all former Secretaries of State; Frank C. Carlucci and Brent Scowcroft, former national security advisers, and Robert S. Strauss and Richard Fairbanks, former Middle East negotiators.

The letter urges all sides in the Middle East conflict to refrain from unilateral actions that could prejudice peace talks. But it is addressed to Mr. Netanyahu, and Mr. Brzezinski was explicit about what the group is criticizing.

''The letter is about settlements,'' he said. ''It's precipitated by Mr. Netanyahu's policies, which seem to us inimical to the peace process and even dangerous.''

Using more diplomatic language, the letter says: ''We write because we are concerned that unilateral actions, such as the expansion of settlements, would be strongly counterproductive to the goal of a negotiated solution and, if carried forward, could halt progress made by the peace process over the last two decades. Such a tragic result would threaten the security of Israel, the Palestinians, friendly Arab states, and undermine U.S. interests in the Middle East.''

Henry A. Kissinger, Secretary of State under Presidents Nixon and Ford, said today that he had chosen not to sign the letter, believing that Mr. Netanyahu's Likud Government needs a period to ''form a strategy'' and that he was elected with a mandate different from that of the previous Labor Party Government.

''I have not agreed with everything he's done,'' Mr. Kissinger said of Mr. Netanyahu. ''But I have not disagreed sufficiently to make a joint public appeal with other former Secretaries.''

The joint appeal to Mr. Netanyahu, while drafted earlier last week, comes at a time of increased concern in the Clinton Administration about Mr. Netanyahu's settlement policies. On Friday, the Israeli Cabinet voted to restore large subsidies, including tax concessions, for existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The vote did not create any new settlements or authorize the expansion of existing ones, though many Palestinians and Israelis expect expansion to be an inevitable result. Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordecai would have to authorize any extensions, Israeli officials said. Mr. Netanyahu promised that no new settlements would be authorized before negotiations with the Palestinians on the final status of the land.

Still, Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, has called on Palestinians ''to firmly confront with all possible means the Israeli settlement aggression in order to defend the land.''

On Friday, the State Department spokesman, Nicholas Burns, called the Israeli Cabinet vote ''troubling,'' and reiterated the department mantra that settlement activity is ''complicating and unhelpful'' to the peace process. But Mr. Burns also added an appeal to all sides not to do ''things that are seen to pre-empt the outcome of a negotiation.''

That American appeal, which Mr. Burns described as new, is the essence of the letter to Mr. Netanyahu by the former senior officials. Mr. Strauss said the process of drafting the letter began ''because each of the signatories has been so intellectually and emotionally involved in the Middle East peace process for so many years, and we are concerned.''

The letter is intended to fit current American policy, Mr. Brzezinski said, and ''do nothing to offend the Administration or the Secretary of State,'' Warren Christopher, or his nominated successor, Madeleine K. Albright. ''It has bipartisan support, and it was calculated to be of assistance,'' Mr. Brzezinski said.

A senior American official said the letter did indeed reflect Administration thinking. ''What they propose is quite consistent with our own view of the problematic nature of settlement activity,'' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The letter, he added, ''is balanced, but clearly with a certain amount of concern, and the concern is warranted.''

The Administration was very close to the former Labor Government of Shimon Peres, which had put a freeze on any new settlement activity. The election of Mr. Netanyahu in May was a setback to Mr. Clinton's goals in the Middle East, and by all accounts, progress toward peace has been halted, if not reversed.

Even talks over an Israeli pullback from the West Bank town of Hebron are stalled, in large part, American officials say, because of Palestinian concerns about Israeli intentions after a Hebron agreement.

The American language on Jewish settlements, which Washington has consistently opposed, has softened over the years since Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir led earlier Likud Governments with an active settlement policy. During the Carter Administration, the settlements were called ''illegal'' and ''illegitimate.'' In Mr. Baker's time, the key phrase was ''obstacles to peace.''

But since Mr. Netanyahu's election, the key phrases have been toned down to ''complicating and unhelpful,'' apparently in an effort to be conciliatory in public while speaking plainly in private. But now the public language is being stepped up again, American officials say, raising the possibility, though formally denied, that this open letter was coordinated with the Administration during a time of transition at the State Department.