Why didn't Yasser Arafat agree to the establishment of the Palestinian state outlined at Camp David II? After all, Prime Minister Ehud Barak (and President Bill Clinton) offered him, among other things: (1) 95% of Judea and Samaria, including eastern Jerusalem and shared sovereignty of the Temple Mount; (2) land in the Negev to compensate for the missing 5%; (3) a corridor cutting across Israel to connect Gaza and the "West Bank"; and (4) the return of 100,000 Arab refugees (for starters).
Arafat rejected this incredible offer not because that wily despot is dedicated to Israel's total annihilation - which he is; no, the basic reason is that Arafat is merely a proxy of Egypt. It is Egypt that will not accept the establishment of a Palestinian state, for that would hinder its own designs on the Land of Israel.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was created by Egypt in 1964, that is, before Israel gained control of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. It was never Egypt's intention to have the PLO establish a sovereign state. The PLO was created to wage a war of attrition against the Jewish state - to kill Jews - and thereby facilitate Egypt's "final solution" to the Jewish problem in the Middle East.
It is in this light that we are to understand the following facts: (1) Egypt is the primary arms supplier of the PLO-run Palestinian Authority; (2) Egypt, not threatened by any of its neighbors, has a war budget of 25% of its Gross Domestic Product even though its people live in abject poverty; (3) Egypt is the center of Nazi-like propaganda against Jews and Israel - which means that Egypt's ruling elite is constantly inflaming the Arab masses against Israel in preparation for an eventual war against the Jewish state.
For these reasons, and contrary to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other defeatists, a Palestinian state is not inevitable. To the contrary, such a state is not part of Egypt's geopolitical designs.
Besides, the idea of two sovereign states between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean is sheer nonsense. Only those who have succumbed to the arrogance of ignorance think otherwise. Arabs are not about to renounce their 1,400-year Islamic culture for the sake of peace with Jewish infidels. But the point to bear in mind is that a Palestinian state is not and never has been Arafat's objective precisely because it is not and never has been Egypt's objective.
This means that the peace treaty Israel and Egypt signed on March 26, 1979, is nothing more than a "piece of paper" - as Anwar Sadat boasted in a New York Times interview dated October 19, 1980. As he put it in an interview with Al-Anwar on June 22, 1975: "The effort of our generation is to return to the 1967 borders. Afterward, the next generation will carry the responsibility." The truth is that Egypt is still at war with Israel, a war carried out by its proxy, the PLO.
Although the PLO-run Palestinian Authority is not Israel's major antagonist, the Israel Defense Forces must eliminate the entire terrorist leadership operating in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The Arabs in these areas - and they actually constitute not a people, but rival clans - must be made to feel utterly defeated. However, inasmuch as Egypt is Israel's main antagonist, steps must be taken to undermine that Arab dictatorship.
First of all, the government of Israel should cease sending its foreign minister to Cairo on fruitless missions to obtain Egypt's mediation in the conflict between Israel and the PLO-led Palestinian Authority. Such missions are not only senseless and self-demeaning, but they mislead the people of Israel about Egypt's true character.
Second, the government of Israel should demand that Egypt abide by all the terms of the March 1979 peace treaty. This would require Egypt to cease supplying arms to the PLO and to put an end to anti-Israel propaganda. Israel can rightly demand that the United States, which sponsored the Israel-Egyptian treaty, apply pressure on Cairo to fulfill the terms of that treaty.
Third, the government of Israel should seek to undermine US support for Egypt - which is but to turn the tables on that Arab regime. Needless to say, this will require very subtle diplomacy.
Since the PLO-led Palestinian Authority is nothing but the proxy of Egypt, this fact must be injected into public discourse, so as to educate the people of Israel about the real nature the war being waged against the Jewish state. Would that Israel had statesmen with wisdom and courage enough not only to articulate this threat, but to think only in terms of victory.
Arafat rejected this incredible offer not because that wily despot is dedicated to Israel's total annihilation - which he is; no, the basic reason is that Arafat is merely a proxy of Egypt. It is Egypt that will not accept the establishment of a Palestinian state, for that would hinder its own designs on the Land of Israel.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was created by Egypt in 1964, that is, before Israel gained control of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. It was never Egypt's intention to have the PLO establish a sovereign state. The PLO was created to wage a war of attrition against the Jewish state - to kill Jews - and thereby facilitate Egypt's "final solution" to the Jewish problem in the Middle East.
It is in this light that we are to understand the following facts: (1) Egypt is the primary arms supplier of the PLO-run Palestinian Authority; (2) Egypt, not threatened by any of its neighbors, has a war budget of 25% of its Gross Domestic Product even though its people live in abject poverty; (3) Egypt is the center of Nazi-like propaganda against Jews and Israel - which means that Egypt's ruling elite is constantly inflaming the Arab masses against Israel in preparation for an eventual war against the Jewish state.
For these reasons, and contrary to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other defeatists, a Palestinian state is not inevitable. To the contrary, such a state is not part of Egypt's geopolitical designs.
Besides, the idea of two sovereign states between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean is sheer nonsense. Only those who have succumbed to the arrogance of ignorance think otherwise. Arabs are not about to renounce their 1,400-year Islamic culture for the sake of peace with Jewish infidels. But the point to bear in mind is that a Palestinian state is not and never has been Arafat's objective precisely because it is not and never has been Egypt's objective.
This means that the peace treaty Israel and Egypt signed on March 26, 1979, is nothing more than a "piece of paper" - as Anwar Sadat boasted in a New York Times interview dated October 19, 1980. As he put it in an interview with Al-Anwar on June 22, 1975: "The effort of our generation is to return to the 1967 borders. Afterward, the next generation will carry the responsibility." The truth is that Egypt is still at war with Israel, a war carried out by its proxy, the PLO.
Although the PLO-run Palestinian Authority is not Israel's major antagonist, the Israel Defense Forces must eliminate the entire terrorist leadership operating in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The Arabs in these areas - and they actually constitute not a people, but rival clans - must be made to feel utterly defeated. However, inasmuch as Egypt is Israel's main antagonist, steps must be taken to undermine that Arab dictatorship.
First of all, the government of Israel should cease sending its foreign minister to Cairo on fruitless missions to obtain Egypt's mediation in the conflict between Israel and the PLO-led Palestinian Authority. Such missions are not only senseless and self-demeaning, but they mislead the people of Israel about Egypt's true character.
Second, the government of Israel should demand that Egypt abide by all the terms of the March 1979 peace treaty. This would require Egypt to cease supplying arms to the PLO and to put an end to anti-Israel propaganda. Israel can rightly demand that the United States, which sponsored the Israel-Egyptian treaty, apply pressure on Cairo to fulfill the terms of that treaty.
Third, the government of Israel should seek to undermine US support for Egypt - which is but to turn the tables on that Arab regime. Needless to say, this will require very subtle diplomacy.
Since the PLO-led Palestinian Authority is nothing but the proxy of Egypt, this fact must be injected into public discourse, so as to educate the people of Israel about the real nature the war being waged against the Jewish state. Would that Israel had statesmen with wisdom and courage enough not only to articulate this threat, but to think only in terms of victory.