Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
Weekly Commentary
20 May '10
President Obama and his team repeated for the umpteenth time this week that he is committed to Israel’s security. The Palestinians have given him a golden opportunity to translate that commitment to action.
This week PA head Mahmoud Abbas presented the U.S. envoy to the peace process, Senator George Mitchell, with a laundry list of Israeli “violations”. A review of the list indicates that the PA’s position is that Israel does not have the right to detain suspected terrorists nor defend its borders in areas where terrorist attacks under the cover of civilian human shields are commonplace. This list of so-called Israeli violations is not much different in approach than previous similar lists prepared by the PA and presented to Washington in the past.
Each time, the list has been received without any serious American comment regarding the underlying assumptions that form the basis for the lists. Assumptions that, if accepted, would seriously undermine Israel’s security. Assumptions that, one would certainly hope, President Obama rejects.
Certainly President Obama thinks Israel has the right to detain suspected terrorists.
And President Obama should certainly appreciate that, under current circumstances, allowing anyone to approach the immediate Gaza border area means exposing Israelis to an unacceptable life threatening risk. So instead of filling away the Palestinian list, how about criticizing it? This isn’t just a question of confidence building, it’s a matter of setting to tone for a proper discussion of security concerns within the framework of the talks just launched.
Because the sooner that the Palestinians understand that Israel’s security needs and concerns can’t be silenced by Palestinian propaganda, the sooner real progress can be made on these issues.
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