(Times of Israel) Yossi Klein Halevi - The long history of Palestinian rejection of peace offers, sometimes followed by waves of terrorism, has left Israelis deeply skeptical of Palestinian intentions. Israelis across the political spectrum fear that a West Bank Palestinian state could fall to the radical Islamist Hamas, which would launch rockets and other terror attacks against Israeli cities, as it routinely does from Gaza. With Iranian forces in Syria and pro-Iranian terror groups entrenched on Israel's northern and southern borders, a hostile Palestine would complete the country's encirclement. Given the region's instability, few Israelis are prepared to risk that option anytime soon. To once again commit to a resolution of the conflict, Israelis need to hear an unambiguous Palestinian vision of peace. The writer is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
2020-02-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive