What 'national consensus'?
In listing the accomplishments of his first 100 days in office, Prime Minister Netanyahu highlighted the establishment of a 'national consensus' in favor of a 'demilitarized Palestinian state.' Former Defense Minister Moshe Arens disagrees. The fact of the matter is that there is no national agreement in Israel on the establishment of a Palestinian State at this time, or on the position adopted by Ehud Olmert and parroted by Livni that unless a Palestinian state is established, Israel will cease to exist. Nor for that matter is there general agreement on the urgent need to negotiate with Palestinian representatives an agreement that they currently are in no position to implement, which should be "put on the shelf" while awaiting better times.Indeed.
At present, with Hamas ruling the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas far from being in control in Judea and Samaria, the Palestinian state is no more than a fantasy. It may or may not become a practical option in the future, and it would be appropriate for the Israeli government to make clear that it does not preclude the establishment of a Palestinian state if and when this becomes possible. By the looks of it, a lot of water will flow down the Jordan River before that happens.
I would go even further and say outright that we doubt it will ever become possible or desirable, and that it's time to talk about another 'solution' or live with managing the conflict, but read the whole thing.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:45 PM
1 Comments:
There is no national consensus on what kind of country Israel should be. An Orthodox Jew like Carl and a secular Jew like Netanyahu don't see Israel's future in the same light. And while I'm not Carl, I don't see what serves Israel's interests by establishing a potentially hostile Palestinian state in Israel's heartland.
As the American saying has it, its best time to move on.
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