(Canadian Jewish News) Sheldon Kirshner - According to Israeli political analyst Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel's peace treaty with Egypt - the single most important Arab state - has neutralized the Arab world's ability to wage a large-scale war. Egypt will live up to its treaty obligations as long as the U.S. remains a global power. The Syrians have declined militarily since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but Syria will try to bleed Israel by using Hizballah as a surrogate. Syria is not interested in reaching a peace accord with Israel. Iran is "extremely dangerous" and its quest for a nuclear arsenal constitutes "an existential threat" to Israel. Asserting that a Palestinian state would be "problematic" for Israeli security interests, Inbar said the Palestinians are incapable of reaching even a "cold peace" with Israel. Palestinian society has grown weary of the intifada, but extremists set the agenda.
2004-05-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive