By Steve Ornstein
For the longest time I have earnestly suggested that the real issue that has kept the Palestinian Authority from agreeing to any peace accord with Israel lies in its inability to overcome their desire for the entire land from the river to the sea to be a Palestinian State.
Even today after the Israeli Prime minister has put a halt for 10 months to any further building in the Israeli communities over the so-called “green-line”, there has been a rejection by the PA. leadership. The catch -22 is the unwillingness to give up their dream of the Jewish State being eliminated .
Therefore, in order to begin sitting down with the Israelis in a serious discussion about a two State solution Abbas must recognize Israel as a Jewish State. This at the moment is an impossible task. Once this is accepted by the PA, Fatah organization’s quest for all of the land will be null and void. Their charter will then be seen as a surrender and that prospect is still too much for the “old” leadership to bare.
Today, the economic situation and cooperation between both sides has been remarkable and exciting to witness. Something Israel has promoted for a long time. Prosperity rings true for both sides. The people directly benefit despite the leadership and it is heavily supported by many of the grassroots organizations in the West Bank and Israel.
In the meantime, today’s editorial in the Jerusalem Post confirms and supports my contention that until the PA accepts the legitimacy of Israel as a State of the Jewish People there will be no progress toward a two state solution.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s unprecedented moratorium is both substantive and symbolic – the appropriate response to a Palestinian settlement freeze demand that is both emblematic and a red-herring.
THE DISPUTE between Palestinians and Israelis is not about settlements. It hinges on whether the Arabs are willing to recognize the legitimacy of Israel as the state of the Jewish people within any boundaries. Some find it convenient to imagine that the clash between the Zionist and Arab causes has transitioned to a non-zero sum game. That is hardly the dominant view in Israel.
Source: jpost.com
