The shot that killed the 'peace process'

With everything else that has happened over the past two months, Mitchell Bard argues that there was one shot - and only one - that has permanent consequences. It's the shot that killed the 'peace process.'

As dangerous as the overall barrage has been, it was one rocket in particular that may have completely changed the prospects for a two-state solution. That rocket did not kill anyone and caused little direct damage; however, the fact that it was within a mile of Israel's international airport was enough to scare the United States and most other countries to cancel their flights in and out of Israel.

Fortunately, no rockets have come anywhere near a commercial airliner or hit the airport itself, but the mere possibility was sufficient to put Israel's economy in potential jeopardy. At the height of the tourist season, flights were cancelled and Israel's principal artery to the outside world was isolated.

Imagine if a rocket did hit the airport or was in the vicinity of an airplane, never mind the catastrophic implications of actually downing a jet. If Israel gives up strategic territory in the West Bank, one Palestinian with an animus toward Israel could smuggle or construct a crude weapon that could reach the airport and, because Iron Dome cannot hit rockets fired short distances, there would be no defense.

Israelis legitimately fear that the West Bank, less than 30 miles from Tel Aviv, 6 miles from Ben-Gurion Airport and a few feet from Jerusalem, will turn into Hamastan where the entire heart of Israel would be within easy rocket range.

How many Israelis will be willing to take this risk now? Would you?

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