Most common reason given for an immediate
Create a Palestinian State now or be faced with a demographic train wreck 30+ years from now of a larger Palestinian than Jewish population west of the Jordan River– which means that Israel will not be able to maintain being both a Jewish and democratic state– it can be only one but not both.
I believe an inappropriately formed
Of course, anyone who supports a
The typical answer that since Israel would be under attack from a foreign sovereign state and at liberty to use the Israeli Defense Forces against its enemy is specious as the attackers would be the Hamas/Islamic Jihad/Al Aksa Brigade-type ‘enemies of peace’ firing from civilian Palestinian centers rather than the official army of the nascent Palestinian State. The same international condemnation and maligning of
Many in the
President Obama’s approach is not new – it is the very approach of the Clinton Administration from 1992-2000; it was embraced by the Rabin government, and culminated in July 2000 with Prime Minister Ehud Barak making the most generous proposal to the Palestinian Authority that Israel is capable of offering. Of course, the offer was rejected by the Palestinian Authority and the bloody Intifada of Sept. 2000 quickly followed.
The years following that Camp David offer were marked by over 125 Palestinian suicide bombings, increased Israeli road blocks, Israeli militarization of previously autonomous Palestinian areas, Israeli withdrawal from Southern Lebanon, Hizbullah's missile campaign from Southern Lebanon, Israel's construction of West Bank separation wall, Israel's disengagement and removal of settlements in Gaza, Hamas rocket-fire campaign against Israeli towns, the 2008 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offer of a Palestinian State and P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas's rejection, Hamas's 2006 revolt against the P.A. and seizure of control of Gaza, ….
SINCE THE
I am reminded of a conversation I had not so long ago with a rabbinical student who was upset with the Israeli government’s lack of enthusiasm for an immediate plan for a Two State Solution; the student quoted the sage Hillel and said, “If not now, when?” My answer to the student is “If now, then perhaps never.”
I believe that the best way to ensure Israel’s long term future is to have healthy, peaceful relations with its neighbors and that a Palestinian state is a necessary element to such relations. However, the process whereby a Palestinian state is created is absolutely critical to its being a vehicle of peaceful relations.
To force a peace agreement between a Palestinian population whose leadership has shown no signs of prioritizing a secure, safe future for Palestinians by way of expressing a sincere desire to peacefully share the land, and an Israeli population who has no reason to trust – other than an unfounded, desperate hope – that its present security and future existence can be responsibly entrusted to the Arab/Muslim world is a sure admixture for failure that will setback any chance for real peace for generations.
Unless the foundational groundwork is stabilized whereby Israel feels its security is not threatened by a Palestinian State and the Palestinians decide the benefit of a sovereign State of Palestine is greater than a continual state-of-war to liberate the land and return to a pre-1948 reality, any agreement will be a short-lived, feel-good moment followed by a disaster of failure manifest in Palestinian fury, Israeli rebuttal, international condemnation, and a worse gridlock and death toll than currently exists.
It's understandable to see the suffering of Palestinian families and to desire an immediate Two State Solution, but is the goal a signed peace agreement from two unwilling/distrusting players or is the goal an end to the bloodshed and suffering of the region's innocents?
My 'solution' is to use these next 20-30 years to improve the lives of Israelis and Palestinians and to lay the foundation for a future peace agreement.
- A priority would be to protect the safety, security, and dignity of the Palestinians.
- A priority would be to improve the standard of living for Palestinians and show the benefits of peaceful co-existence.
- A priority would be to create a tolerance whereby
- THE priority would be the security of
If the Obama Administration and international opinion supports the idea of imposing conditions onto the players in the
Impose on the Palestinians of West Bank and
1. An international investment in the infrastructure of Palestinian institutions including government services, the economy and the manufacturing of goods, hospitals, roadways, police force, and judicial systems and the like.
2. A reform of the educational system that eliminates the vilification of Israel; that teaches the history of loss of both sides; that recognizes a Jewish State of Israel; that fertilizes the dreams concomitant with peaceful coexistence.
4. An active no-tolerance policy toward hate groups of
Impose on
1. The immediate construction of comfortable modern 'passage centers' whereby residents of the West Bank and Gaza can respectfully and efficiently be recognized by Israeli authorities as non-dangerous for entry into Israel for the purposes of work and family visits.
2. The removal of all roadblocks between roads connecting Palestinian West Bank cities.
3. The release of Palestinians held without charges in detention jails.
4. The necessary utilities support to help the Palestinian infrastructure and economy advance and develop.
5. A no-tolerance policy toward anti-Palestinian activity.
7. The dismantling of small, illegal settlements with an eye toward dismantling other settlements whose location purposes are no more than to frustrate a future land designation for a Palestinian state.
The separation wall stays up and is completed. Any breach of the wall is considered an act of terror.
International monitors who have been agreed to on by both sides will oversee and report to the P.A.,
At 10, 15, and 20 years there will be incremental and appropriate steps toward an independent Palestinian State in 2035. Time is necessary to build trust -- trust cannot be imposed.