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Arthur M. Horwitz

Fragile Palestinian Government Unsettling

F. Kevin Browett

Publisher / Executive Editor
ahorwitz@renmedia.us

Chief Operating Officer
kbrowett@renmedia.us

Editorial

Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl

T

he Palestinian Authority, which
governs Palestinian-controlled
areas of the West Bank, may or
may not collapse because of daunting
political and economic influences.
Regardless, if the people living under
the P.A. and their Israeli neighbors truly
want a two-state solution to their bitter,
decades-long conflict, both sides must
demonstrate a painful willingness to
humanely negotiate and compromise.
Not trying to find
common ground would
saddle Israel's right-
wing government with
what Haaretz Editor
Aluf Benn calls an
"indefinite occupation
of millions of disenfran-
A
chised Palestinians:'
Aluf Benn
While supporting the
concept of two states,
one Jewish and one Arab, coexisting side
by side, Israel commands a military occu-
pation in the West Bank for good reason:
to protect against Palestinian violence and
terror toward Israelis.
Israel also holds a historic and biblical
claim to the West Bank. But its seemingly
endless expansion of settlements ignores
the consequential matter of 2 1/2 million
Palestinians living in the West Bank and
another 200,000 residing in the eastern
sector of Jerusalem, the Israeli capital.

Over the long haul,
the Israeli-Palestinian
status quo would be
a disaster.

Despite the Palestinians' ingrained
culture of hate toward Jews and Zionism,
and himself entrenched in a splintered
government, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up while in
Washington in November, inviting a new
round of peace talks with no precondi-
tions — a notable concession itself.
At the U.N. climate conference in France
on Nov. 30, P.A. President Mahmoud
Abbas said, "Our hand is still extended in
peace to our neighbors:' He could dem-
onstrate that by branding the tides of ter-
ror waged by young Palestinians against
Israeli soldiers and civilians these last 2 1/2
months as terror — not as a "peaceful

jheadapohl@renmedia.us

popular uprising:' a term he used
two weeks earlier on official P.A.
TV.

Forces and the Shin Bet general
security service, however, discus-
sion shifted to what a P.A. col-
lapse would mean.
CREATIVITY NEEDED
According to Haaretz, quoting
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's
Israeli sources familiar with the
Thanksgiving week gambit at shut-
Cabinet meeting, such a collapse
tle diplomacy, as reported Nov. 27
wouldn't result from Abbas call-
by Haaretz, revealed both leaders
ing it quits, but possibly from a
Robert Sklar
combination of Israeli military
seeking something from the other Contributing
before even considering a return to Editor
pressure, the dependent P.A.
direct bilateral negotiations.
economy and Abbas' eroding
legitimacy among Palestinians.
Kerry left the Middle East frus-
trated on the diplomacy front. Still, there's
As Israeli ministers debate the impact
hope for bridging the diplomatic divide.
of a potential P.A. collapse, Israel must
Israel, drawing upon its inventive-
be vigilant against its conflict with the
ness, will have to rise up with a course of
Palestinians hurtling beyond control.
engagement that not only lights the way
Israel is in the tougher spot. Its tenuous
for renewed conversation, but also bur-
government coalition has all but straight-
dens the Palestinians if they continue to
jacketed Netanyahu. And Israel knows
resist negotiating.
even if Abbas miraculously becomes a
Over the long haul, the Israeli-
peace partner, the Palestinian people
Palestinian status quo, including Israel's
remain indoctrinated to despise Israel
West Bank military occupation and the
thanks in part to his repeated incitement.
Palestinians' terror-encouraging mindset,
Clearly, Palestinians of all ages must
would be a disaster.
show they desire peace.
In the short term, Israel and the P.A.
What's more, the Palestinian pursuit of
do cooperate, with some success, on West
statehood through international treaties
Bank security. And the P.A. largely handles and conventions is more than a flirtation.
its own governmental affairs, something
It's finding traction — one of Israel's big-
Israel certainly isn't angling for.
gest fears. *

Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen

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Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello
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Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin

da nnyraskin@sbcg loba Lnet

Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar
rsklar@renmedia.us

Contributing Writers:

Ruthan Brodsky, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen,

Don Cohen, Shari S. Cohen,
Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Ryan Fishman,

Stacy Gittleman, Judy Greenwald, Ronelle Grier,

Esther Allweiss Ingber, Harry Kirsbaum,

Barbara Lewis, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz,

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U.N.'S SHADOW
Meanwhile, Abbas ponders
his next move at the United
Nations. The U.N. seems
receptive to his eyeing inter-
national recognition of and
protection for "the occupied
State of Palestine:' The U.N.
already considers "Palestine"
a nonvoting "observer state:'
In speaking before the
U.N. General Assembly in
September, Abbas implied
he'd revoke the Palestine
Liberation Organization's
recognition of Israel, the
framework for the 1993 Oslo
Accords. The PLO is the
negotiating and diplomatic
umbrella for the P.A.
Following Kerry's fruitless
meetings with Netanyahu and
Abbas relative to rekindling
talks, the Israeli prime min-
ister convened a Diplomatic-
Security Cabinet meeting on
Nov. 25 principally to address
P.A. diplomatic rumblings
targeting Israel. Amid warn-
ings by the Israel Defense

Chairman: Michael H. Steinhardt
President/Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz

ahorwitz@renmedia.us

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6 December 10 • 2015

