(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Maj.-Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen - Thinking that Israel's current strategic position in the West Bank is riskless and hence preferable to the partial application of sovereignty is a misrepresentation of reality. If Israel misses the opportunity presented by the U.S. peace plan to apply sovereignty, the risks to Israel multiply; they do not decrease. The prime minister's plan to apply sovereignty would have no effect on the vast majority of Palestinians living in Areas A and B, which have been under PA control since January 1996. Israel has been given an opportunity - one that may well never return - to promote the country's vital national interests and bolster its future. This is also an opportunity to reposition Israel as a nation that will dare to act on its own behalf even in the face of threats. That is the embodiment of sovereignty: political power and independence. The writer, a senior research fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, served in the IDF for 42 years, commanding troops in battle on the Egyptian and Syrian fronts.
2020-06-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive