(Israel Hayom) Zalman Shoval - Just as former U.S. President Bill Clinton exposed the true face of Yasser Arafat at Camp David, we must thank Secretary of State John Kerry for exposing PA President Mahmoud Abbas' rejectionist colors. The Palestinians booby-trapped the process from the start and never abandoned their original plan to ultimately turn to the UN. While Kerry's honest intentions need not be questioned, perhaps he and his advisers should have been more cognizant, based on the facts from the past, of the prearranged Palestinian script. What was the basis for their belief they would succeed, this time around, to overcome the fundamental Palestinian negativism toward any process obligating them to compromise on the conflict's core issues? We should assume that the Americans will not withdraw from the Israeli-Palestinian issue. It is possible they will be less active in the intermediate future, but after a short while it is safe to envision that regional and domestic political interests will bring them back with renewed vigor. The writer is a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S.
2014-04-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive