White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said last night that Bush is very concerned over Israel\'s future, and that he feels that Israel will not be able to survive unless a Palestinian state is established alongside it. This sentiment, of course, flies in the face of the considered opinions of many top analysts. A paper prepared by the Foundation For Constitutional Democracy writes,
\"An Islamic Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria dooms Israel. Consider the enormous quantity and types of weapons the Palestinian Authority accumulated! There will be no way of limiting the number and type of weapons acquired and developed by a sovereign Arab Palestinian state on Israel\'s doorstep. Such a state will prevent Israel from defending itself against a concerted Arab attack on three fronts…\"
In addition, Daniel Pipes wrote yesterday in the National Post that talk of a Palestinian state and an end to Israeli settlement activity \"represents rewards for suicide bombings, sniper attacks, and the other forms of terrorism.\" Pipes further noted some factual mistakes Bush made, such as \"Misreading Palestinian opinion: Bush declares that only a small minority of Palestinians subscribe to the means or views of the terrorists… But this is false; nearly every opinion survey, political speech, mosque sermon and other indication suggests that a substantial majority of Palestinians enthusiastically support the campaign of violence against Israel. This has the ominous implication that practicing democracy, as the President calls for, would lead - ironically - to a more aggressive policy toward Israel.\" Pipes also notes that \"every sign points to a continuation of the present policies\" once they have their own formal state.
\"An Islamic Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria dooms Israel. Consider the enormous quantity and types of weapons the Palestinian Authority accumulated! There will be no way of limiting the number and type of weapons acquired and developed by a sovereign Arab Palestinian state on Israel\'s doorstep. Such a state will prevent Israel from defending itself against a concerted Arab attack on three fronts…\"
In addition, Daniel Pipes wrote yesterday in the National Post that talk of a Palestinian state and an end to Israeli settlement activity \"represents rewards for suicide bombings, sniper attacks, and the other forms of terrorism.\" Pipes further noted some factual mistakes Bush made, such as \"Misreading Palestinian opinion: Bush declares that only a small minority of Palestinians subscribe to the means or views of the terrorists… But this is false; nearly every opinion survey, political speech, mosque sermon and other indication suggests that a substantial majority of Palestinians enthusiastically support the campaign of violence against Israel. This has the ominous implication that practicing democracy, as the President calls for, would lead - ironically - to a more aggressive policy toward Israel.\" Pipes also notes that \"every sign points to a continuation of the present policies\" once they have their own formal state.