Israel can argue ?til it?s blue in the face that she is entitled to all or part of Judea and Samaria, but no one cares. Israel can offer more and more concessions to the Palestinians ?til the cows come home, but they won?t get Israel a meaningful end-of-conflict agreement. Israel can continue to ?work? with the US ad infinitum, in the hope the US will work with her, but that is not likely. The whole world is against us.
So what else is new?
It is time to wake up and smell the roses. Israel stands alone. The Arabs want to destroy it. The EU and the UN are doing their best to help them. The Bush administration has rammed the Roadmap down her throat, refused to remove the ?right of return? or the reference to the Saudi Plan, refused to allow a ?land grab? by Israel, even in self-defense, and refused to allow Israel to fight to win. The Democratic Party offers no salvation.
Make no mistake about it, the Quartet, including Israel?s friend, the US, is fully committed to the Saudi Plan, which endorses a two-state solution, a shared or international Jerusalem, and ?67 borders with minor negotiated exchanges of land of equal value. It will involve the forcible transfer of hundreds of thousands of Jews. If that weren?t bad enough, everyone understands that the Arabs will continue to work to destroy the state of Israel.
The only chance Israel has to avoid being the victim of a hit and run is to get off the road.
Ariel Sharon (Ehud Olmert) is on the right track when he calls for a unilateral solution. He knows that the Palestinians, backed by everyone, are not about to compromise anything. It is time Israel stop debating this or that peace plan. It must flatly declare that it will not engage in any peace process, that Oslo is dead, that the PA is dead and that Israel will defend itself.
The debate in Israel should be about what the unilateral solution should be. Sharon has indicated he supports a two-state solution and a border (fence) that includes as many Israelis as possible within Israel and excludes as many Palestinians outside it. The US is so alarmed at such a modest imposed solution that it is sending an emissary to investigate, and it has already come down clearly against any unilateral moves. The US is working against us and not with us.
Although, for the moment, Israel is committed to building the fence where it is in its best interest to build it, it is no panacea. Thousands of Palestinians are flooding into Jerusalem to be on the Israeli side, swelling the Palestinian population in Jerusalem to 350,000. Perhaps it is better to build the fence through the middle of Jerusalem to exclude these Palestinians from Israel. The principal of an undivided Jerusalem is meaningless. It is enough if only the Old City is included. Perhaps, it too should be abandoned and only the Temple Mount be included.
Secondly, once the fence is built, what will be the status of the lands to the east? What role will the Palestinians have in managing it? What role will the IDF have? Can Israel afford to just abandon those lands, or is it in their interest to keep control of them?
Given that the Palestinians are against a two-state solution, no matter what they say, Israel must develop a separate vision; one that they can impose unilaterally. To be able to do so, Israel will have to destroy the terror infrastructure, expel the terrorists, and jail or expel all Palestinians who continue to incite in schools or mosques.
Let the debate begin. But it must involve a unilateral solution. Israel should try to get the US on board, providing the US is willing to abandon the Saudi Plan for something more favorable to Israel.
So what else is new?
It is time to wake up and smell the roses. Israel stands alone. The Arabs want to destroy it. The EU and the UN are doing their best to help them. The Bush administration has rammed the Roadmap down her throat, refused to remove the ?right of return? or the reference to the Saudi Plan, refused to allow a ?land grab? by Israel, even in self-defense, and refused to allow Israel to fight to win. The Democratic Party offers no salvation.
Make no mistake about it, the Quartet, including Israel?s friend, the US, is fully committed to the Saudi Plan, which endorses a two-state solution, a shared or international Jerusalem, and ?67 borders with minor negotiated exchanges of land of equal value. It will involve the forcible transfer of hundreds of thousands of Jews. If that weren?t bad enough, everyone understands that the Arabs will continue to work to destroy the state of Israel.
The only chance Israel has to avoid being the victim of a hit and run is to get off the road.
Ariel Sharon (Ehud Olmert) is on the right track when he calls for a unilateral solution. He knows that the Palestinians, backed by everyone, are not about to compromise anything. It is time Israel stop debating this or that peace plan. It must flatly declare that it will not engage in any peace process, that Oslo is dead, that the PA is dead and that Israel will defend itself.
The debate in Israel should be about what the unilateral solution should be. Sharon has indicated he supports a two-state solution and a border (fence) that includes as many Israelis as possible within Israel and excludes as many Palestinians outside it. The US is so alarmed at such a modest imposed solution that it is sending an emissary to investigate, and it has already come down clearly against any unilateral moves. The US is working against us and not with us.
Although, for the moment, Israel is committed to building the fence where it is in its best interest to build it, it is no panacea. Thousands of Palestinians are flooding into Jerusalem to be on the Israeli side, swelling the Palestinian population in Jerusalem to 350,000. Perhaps it is better to build the fence through the middle of Jerusalem to exclude these Palestinians from Israel. The principal of an undivided Jerusalem is meaningless. It is enough if only the Old City is included. Perhaps, it too should be abandoned and only the Temple Mount be included.
Secondly, once the fence is built, what will be the status of the lands to the east? What role will the Palestinians have in managing it? What role will the IDF have? Can Israel afford to just abandon those lands, or is it in their interest to keep control of them?
Given that the Palestinians are against a two-state solution, no matter what they say, Israel must develop a separate vision; one that they can impose unilaterally. To be able to do so, Israel will have to destroy the terror infrastructure, expel the terrorists, and jail or expel all Palestinians who continue to incite in schools or mosques.
Let the debate begin. But it must involve a unilateral solution. Israel should try to get the US on board, providing the US is willing to abandon the Saudi Plan for something more favorable to Israel.