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Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Israel to abandon Judea and Samaria even if 'Palestinians' not 'ready' to run a state reichlet

I can't think of too many ideas that are worse than Israel doing what it did in Gaza and abandoning the strategic territory of Judea and Samaria to the incompetent 'government' of Abu Mazen and Salam Fayad. This morning, the Jerusalem Post reports that US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is coming here with the aim of imposing something worse - much worse - on Israel: An 'international peacekeeping force' for Judea and Samaria that will be dominated by Jordanian and Egyptian troops.
The issue of how to deal with the period between when Israel leaves large swaths of the West Bank and the PA is able to take over control is likely to be discussed during talks President George W. Bush will hold in Jerusalem and in the PA on Wednesday and Thursday.

US Special Envoy for Middle East Security James Jones has been assigned the task of preparing a plan on this issue within six moths.

A number of options are being considered, including the involvement of NATO troops or Jordanian and Egyptian forces. Jones, a former Marine Corps general, was NATO's top military commander from 2003 to 2005.

...

Rice said at the time that the establishment of a Palestinian state "will raise questions about a security vacuum when Israelis leave the West Bank. And this is not an issue just for the Palestinians. It's an issue for the states in the area as well, like Jordan and Egypt."

Therefore, she said, there needed to be a "hard look" from a military expert on what the possible vacuums could "look like when you create a Palestinian state," and on how to deal with them.
This is wrong for so many reasons it's hard to know where to start, but one place I will start is the Philadelphi corridor, where the European monitors ran away after Hamas took over Gaza last summer and the Egyptians have been helping Hamas to smuggle import weapons and ammunition and cash. Anyone who believes that could not happen again - with much worse consequences - in Judea and Samaria is living in a fantasy world.

This would be wrong even if Jordanian and Egyptian forces were not involved. Israel has to be able to go after terrorists, especially if it is going to give up strategic assets (i.e. land), and the last thing it needs is 'international forces' getting in the way.

4 Comments:

At 11:30 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 4:01 PM, Blogger NormanF said...

Turning over Judea and Samaria to foreign troops would be the beginning of the end of Israel. Bush and Rice not only want to turn it "Judenrein"as well as east Jerusalem; they intend to deprive Israel of the means defending herself from terrorism: the ability of the IDF to go in at will to prevent Jews from being slaughtered and to protect them there. Consider in in context with the words in Israel's national anthem. Israel's very right to settle the land with Jews and to defend itself would be annulled. Israel would cease to be a sovereign state - much less than a Jewish state.

 
At 11:05 PM, Blogger Osaid Rasheed said...

So, you think that israel should 'KEEP' the West-Bank for ever ? Will that be a solution, you think ?

How will you achieve peace with the Palestinians if not through giving them THEIR land ? The problem is actually not with Pals alone, but with all those "crazy" Arabs surrounding you from all over the places !

try to give alternatives when criticizing a government options ( especially if that govt was urs )

I enjoyed reading your blog :)

 
At 1:04 AM, Blogger Carl in Jerusalem said...

Osaid Rasheed,

It isn't THEIR land. It's ours.

 

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