the land for historical, religious and security reasons, the
Israeli mainstream never relished ruling over another
people. Israeli governments, Labor and Likud, have
sought partners to negotiate peace agreements that would
entail territorial compromise.
Israel concluded such a deal with Egypt's Anwar Sadat
in 1979, restoring the Sinai to Egyptian sovereignty.
Another historic peace treaty was reached with Jordan's
King Hussein in 1994, but Jordan had relinquished any
claim to the West Bank and declared that the future of
east Jerusalem, including the holy Muslim sites in the Old
City, would be up to the Palestinians.
The 1993 Oslo Accords, a product of direct bilateral
negotiations, were signed with the noble intention of
eventually creating a Palestinian entity that would live in
peace with Israel. But, as with the U.N. two-state plan,
implementation required visionary, courageous, deter-
mined leaders on both sides. Regrettably, Palestinian
leadership has consistently fallen short, but Israelis who
still hold on to the pipedream of a greater Israel have also
made the search for peace more difficult.
While Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination by
an Israeli extremist surely set up an obstacle to the peace
process, Yasser Arafat's decision to revert to terrorism, his
refusal to recognize the Jewish people's link to any part of
the land and his failure to nurture a culture of peace among
his own people had a far more serious long-term impact.
Still, the elusive goal of two states, never completely
abandoned, remains the best option for permanent peace.
Four consecutive prime ministers of Israel — Ehud Barak,
Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert and Benjamin Netanyahu —
have openly committed themselves to it. In his historic
call it what you will." In a U.N. speech he condemned
Israel for "63 years of occupation:' meaning all of Israel
is illegal, and called Israel the "land of Mohammed and
Jesus:' denying its Jewish connection. His official emblem
shows all of Israel with an Arab headdress over it next to
a Kalashnikov rifle.
In the New York Times, Abbas openly wrote that a
Palestinian state will not lead to peace, but will "interna-
tionalize the conflict as a legal matter ... paving the way for
us to pursue claims against Israel at the U.N. Human Rights
Treaty bodies and the International Court of Justice."
Only last week, Abbas said he has made "no conces-
sions" and still demands that the 1967 "Auschwitz" lines
— as they have been called by Israeli Minister of Tourism
Uzi Landau — be accepted (with minor changes) and that
millions of so-called "refugees" be allowed to move into
Israel, which would end Israel as a Jewish state.
Are Abbas and the P.A. presently acting as a democracy
creating a civilized, peace-loving society? No. Abbas is a
dictator who has not allowed elections for almost nine
years. He promotes hate education against Jews and Israel
in their media, schools and speeches — such as P.A. TV
recently showing Arab children calling Jews "most evil
among creations, barbaric monkeys, wretched pigs";
doesn't arrest terrorists; doesn't stop demanding that Israel
release terrorists; doesn't end relations with Hamas; glori-
fies terrorists and names schools, streets and sports teams
after Jew-killing terrorists; and continues his massive and
relentless delegitimization and demonization of Israel.
We also need to understand that a sovereign state
doesn't necessarily create a civil and peace-loving society
— it only strengthens the ability of the underlying culture
to promote its agenda. Iran, Libya, North Korea, Egypt and
Syria are sovereign states. Are they lovely and peaceful?
2009 Bar-Ilan University address, Netanyahu
declared, "In my vision of peace, there are two
free peoples living side by side in this small
land, with good neighborly relations and
mutual respect, each with its flag, anthem and
government, with neither one threatening its
neighbor's security and existence
As Netanyahu says frequently, the alternative
to territorial compromise, a binational state,
would be the death knell of Zionism and of
Israel, since incorporating so many Arabs into
the Israeli polity would destroy the country's
Jewish character.
True, each of Israel's generous offers for
peace — at Camp David in 2000, Taba in 2001,
and Jerusalem in 2008 — were spurned by the
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Palestinian
Palestinian leadership. The Hamas coup in Gaza
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on May 23,
in 2007 and P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas' resis-
tance to resuming talks since he walked away from 2013, representing one of Kerry's recent attempts to get Israel
and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
them four years ago are additional challenges to
Israel's efforts — and U.S. Secretary of State John
peace agreement is signed will be critical to its successful
Kerry's initiative — to get the peace process back on track.
implementation.
Yet there is no viable alternative to direct Israeli-
Achieving peace is a strategic objective for Israel.
Palestinian negotiations, and the longer they are put off
American Jews should support the Israeli government's
the more world public opinion views Israel, erroneously,
determined efforts to reach a two-state solution. That will
as the obstacle to peace.
require genuine, committed partners and finding them—
When the Palestinians do return to the table, the Israeli
especially now with chaos spreading in neighboring Arab
government will work out the details with them: secure
countries — may be difficult. But abandoning hope would
borders, appropriate land swaps to ensure that the main
be the greatest tragedy. ❑
settlement blocs are in Israel, a demilitarized Palestinian
state and an end to the conflict. Given the risks Israel
Kenneth Bandler is director of media relations for the New York-
faces, consideration for what happens the day after any
based American Jewish Committee (AJC).
There is also no demographic issue for
Israel if a Palestinian state is not created,
since Israel has already given away 42
percent of the West Bank and all of Gaza,
where 99 percent of all Palestinians live.
Therefore, Palestinians are no longer under
Israeli rule, except when it comes to some
security issues, and Israel can maintain its
Jewish character without the creation of a
Palestinian state.
Under prevailing conditions, not only
would a Palestinian state not bring peace, but
Israel would also be truly endangered. No
remotely stable and peaceful Palestinian state
is even possible when rivals Fatah and Hamas
control the West Bank and Gaza, respectively. An Israeli woman pats her crying daughter after a Qassam
Hamas might one day topple the Fatah/P.A. in rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists hit the center of the
the West Bank, just as it did in Gaza in 2007.
embattled southern town of Sderot on March 9, 2001.
Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion airport and 70 per-
cent of Israel's population would be placed in
tion to a Jewish state within any border:'
rocket, mortar and rifle range of Palestinian terrorists, as is
Palestinian statehood won't resolve these issues. Until
the case for Israeli territory adjacent to Hamas-controlled
these things change, and the Palestinian Arabs accept
Gaza today — something that has traumatized Israelis
the right of the Jewish people to have a state, peace will
in towns like Sderot and that has led to repeated military
remain elusive.
clashes and bloodshed.
The last thing the world needs now is yet another anti-
Morton A. Klein is national president of the New York-based
American, anti-Jewish, anti-Christian terrorist dictator-
Zionist Organization of America (ZOA).
ship. Yet that is exactly what a Palestinian state would be,
judging by the behavior of the P.A. during the 20 years
since its creation.
What do you think of a two-state solution?
Peace doesn't exist because the Palestinian culture of
Call the JN's Soap Box line at (248) 351-
hatred and violence against Jews and the Jewish state
5146, state your city and start talking!
continues unabated, and because, as Prime Minister
Netanyahu said, "There is a fervent Palestinian opposi-
❑
August 8 • 2013
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