what the prez is suggesting is that we just have to "close our eyes" to reality and put our faith in our enemies - which is hardly the wisest way to go about anything, let alone negotiating away the future of the country
Shimon Peres has done it.

He has succeeded far beyond any of his predecessors, and made one of the most remarkably obtuse public statements ever made by an Israeli president (and there's plenty of competition for that coveted title).

Speaking to a group of Diaspora Jewish leaders in Jerusalem on Monday, Peres said that "making peace is a little bit like marriage - you have to close your eyes and accept what is possible to accept."

Leaving aside what the remark says about the president's view of his own wife, Peres' statement is highly revealing about what the father of Oslo sees as the best way to forge a deal with our enemies.

Essentially, what the prez is suggesting is that we just have to "close our eyes" to reality and put our faith in our enemies - which is hardly the wisest way to go about anything, let alone negotiating away the future of the country.

I wouldn't want a bus driver who "closes his eyes", nor a surgeon, a quarterback or any other professional who slams shut his lids before proceeding. 

Why, then, would we want our political leadership to do so?

If this is the kind of thinking that guides Israel's would-be peacemakers, then the kind of peace they are after is most certainly one that we can all do without.