Israel Hayom..
13 June '13..
Let Justice Minister Tzipi Livni advance the peace talks with the Palestinians. Let U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry mediate. Convince Europe's prominent figures to pressure Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and talk about peace.
It would be best to send Haaretz reporter Sefi Rachlevsky to mediate the talks (in my opinion, Rachlevsky habitually writes the most zealous, orthodox texts in all of Hebrew journalism. He is a liberal fundamentalist). Invite Hamas to the negotiating table as well. Invite Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to Jerusalem. Invite Fatah strongman Jibril "nuclear bomb" Rajoub to a Meretz convention. Conduct dialogue with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Go see the butcher from Damascus and exchange ideas with him. Adopt the 2002 Saudi peace initiative.
And once all your hopes are dashed, just withdraw. Stage a unilateral withdrawal. Converge behind walls and fences and convince yourselves that you will now be left alone. From now on, say no to "Danonism" (as in Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, who said very recently that Israel is not interested in a two-state solution) and yes to "Tzipism" (as in Tzipi Livni, a long-time advocate of the peace process).
This does not clear the deputy defense minister of responsibility for falling into the trap of making controversial remarks to the media. Wise men watch their tongues.
Within hours of Israel withdrawing from Judea and Samaria, Hamas would try to take over the entire area. Hamas forces would be met with al-Qaida cells already stationed in the region, and together they would laugh at us for being so foolish. Let us keep in mind that all the warnings over previous Israeli withdrawals all came true, one by one. But this knowledge hasn't stopped the peace industry from continuing to preach to us that we should uproot ourselves from our homeland.
Before we even address the issue of territory, there is the question of nationality. Two states for two peoples means that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as the Jewish state. This is the first step on the path to ensuring that the region's Arabs come to terms with the Jewish people's right to at least some of the land. But they don't recognize, and won't recognize, Israel. Can't you hear? They are shouting it from the rooftops.
We are headed for a masquerade ball. With whom do you want to sign a peace agreement? Abbas and his Ramallah gang don't have the authority to sign anything. Even among the Palestinians of the West Bank, Abbas has no support. And we are talking about ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Kerry apparently reads New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman's articles, and that is why he believes that the Arab Spring is in full swing. But Arab nations are collapsing all around us, reverting back to their natural state of tribes, ethnic groups, clans and families. There is no longer a Syria, a Lebanon or even an Iraq. These countries are now merely cardboard sets putting on a play of national fronts, while history laughs backstage, as if saying, "I told you!" The Western model of nationality was artificially imposed on the Middle Eastern social model, which lasted thousands of years. With whom can we sign a peace agreement, now that Arab countries are collapsing before our eyes and religious leaders emerge as the real leaders of Middle Eastern populations?
There are efforts to solve the "problem" coming at us from all directions. But for the last 100 years, it has been only we who really looked for solutions. The basis of any solution boils down to a territorial compromise, but all attempts at compromise have been shattered on the rock of reality. So what do the disillusioned members of the peace cult do, now that their messiah has let them down? Some of them will sober up, some of them will quit, some will convert, and some -- a particularly vocal and aggressive part of them -- will fashion a new messiah and call out his name on every possible stage, saying, "This time it will work."
"Asshur shall not save us," the prophet Hosea warned. Neither will the U.S., which has lost its influence on the region under the leadership of U.S. President Barack Obama. Just as during the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, or during the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords, the world will cheer us, and then resume attacking and condemning us the moment we try to defend ourselves and enforce the agreements that were signed by one tribe but rejected by another.
The idea that there is a solution to every problem is not universal. It represents a specific school of thought. On the other hand, many people believe that there isn't necessarily a solution to every problem. Just like the geographical borders that were artificially imposed by the West on the Middle East, the endless efforts to solve a problem that has no solution are also bound to fail. These efforts not only manifest a lack of humility toward history and reality but also toward the region.
The Middle East is the cradle of civilization. For 5,000 years the earth here has been breathing cycles of tribal, diplomatic, cultural and religious growth and decline. Not everything can be resolved. What we need is patience. And faith.
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=4647
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