(Israel Hayom) Richard Baehr - The Palestinians, much like Iran, do not accept the permanence of Israel. The creation of Israel has always been considered a disaster. The Palestinians seemed to rely on demographic shifts and terrorism to eventually break down Israel's will to resist. Yet the now much higher Israeli Jewish fertility rate (more than three children per woman of child-bearing age, about the same as for Israeli Arabs and West Bank Arabs), along with the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, have significantly extended the horizons for when this supposed demographic advantage for the Palestinians would be realized. The Trump administration, in its meetings with Palestinian officials, have demanded an end to incitement against Israel and a cutoff of Palestinian Authority payments to families of terrorists, many of whom had American blood on their hands. These payments are a significant dollar amount when compared to total American aid to the PA, but are very popular among Palestinians. Already there are hints about the PA continuing the payments in a different form that would provide an appearance that the program has ended. The writer is a fellow at the Jewish Policy Center.
2017-06-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive