(JNS) Jonathan S. Tobin - There are those who think Americans have the right and even the duty to override the verdicts of Israeli democracy and save the Jewish state "from itself" and those who believe Israelis have the right to decide the issues of war and peace for themselves. Some continue to attempt to revive a dispute about the Middle East peace process that has been rendered irrelevant by the last quarter century of history, and that was conclusively shelved by the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and its aftermath. Israeli Jews were once almost evenly split about the merits of "land for peace" and two-state solution proposals for ending the conflict with the Palestinian Arabs. But since the terrorist war known as the Second Intifada literally and metaphorically blew up hopes for peace, the creation of a Hamas terrorist state in Gaza after the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from that territory, and then the barbarism of Oct. 7, the constituency for such schemes has shrunk to political insignificance. Most Israelis have finally accepted that the Palestinians have no interest in peace if it means accepting the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where its borders might be drawn. Palestinians who are undaunted by the destruction and death brought to their people by Hamas's decision to launch a war on Oct. 7 and buoyed by the growth of the worldwide movement dedicated to destroying Israel in its wake, have rendered the chances of a two-state solution in the foreseeable future to zero. Even if the government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to be replaced by one led by his political opponents, their policies toward Hamas and Hizbullah, as well as their Iranian paymasters, would be no different than that of the current coalition. If there is any hope of expanding the circle of peace, it will come from a perception of Israeli strength that will be bolstered by an administration in Washington that is determined not to have the sort of "daylight" between it and Jerusalem that was routine under Obama and Biden.
2024-11-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive