Post by howiedds on Jun 13, 2014 14:27:08 GMT -6
Flitz:
Perhaps a civil war among the Palestinians to decide who is going to speak for them, the Palestinian authority or Hamas. The framework for a settlement has been out there for 14 years. The Palestinians have to be ready to accept less than everything.
That is not to say that the Israelis have no work to do, but the strident right, the "not and inchers," will not carry the day in Israel once the more moderate Palestinians who are ready to accept an Israel next door win the fight with Hamas.
There has always been a diversity of opinion in Israel as there is in all the western democracies. The right or left ascend or descend in the polls depending on the actions of the Palestinians. When the Arabs are strident in their denunciation of Israel and are lobbing rockets into southern Israel from Gaza, as happens nearly daily now, the right dominates. If the West Bank Palestinian authority can take over leadership from Hamas in Gaza, the rockets would stop, and the left leaning doves in Israel could make a comeback.
Stability would be a future issue once they could even get to the two state phase. Of course, Israelis are concerned about how permanent any agreement is when Hamas blatantly proclaims that their policies would not be constrained by and prior agreements that recognized Israel's borders. I am less optimistic than I was in the early nineties.
Eventually one has to be willing to walk through the city streets again. What is it going to take?
Perhaps a civil war among the Palestinians to decide who is going to speak for them, the Palestinian authority or Hamas. The framework for a settlement has been out there for 14 years. The Palestinians have to be ready to accept less than everything.
That is not to say that the Israelis have no work to do, but the strident right, the "not and inchers," will not carry the day in Israel once the more moderate Palestinians who are ready to accept an Israel next door win the fight with Hamas.
I took the quoted article as a positive sign--diversity of opinion is usually a good sign that people are thinking.
There has always been a diversity of opinion in Israel as there is in all the western democracies. The right or left ascend or descend in the polls depending on the actions of the Palestinians. When the Arabs are strident in their denunciation of Israel and are lobbing rockets into southern Israel from Gaza, as happens nearly daily now, the right dominates. If the West Bank Palestinian authority can take over leadership from Hamas in Gaza, the rockets would stop, and the left leaning doves in Israel could make a comeback.
I wouldn't pretend to understand the issues well enough to suggest detailed solutions, but I share you opinion that a two state solution is the best pathway forward. Unfortunately, I am less optimistic that it will be stable.