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Source: http://www.bitterlemons.org/issue/isr2.php
Why the Washington Process Can't Succeed
(bitterlemons.org) Mordechai Kedar - Settlement construction was until now never a rationale for diplomatic stalemate. This time, however, the settlement issue has been seized on by the Palestinians as an "ejection seat" that enables them to evade negotiations they know will flounder over core issues like refugees. They prefer to exploit the settlements controversy and score points with the White House rather than being blamed for allowing the process to collapse. Israel is perceived by many Palestinians, as well as many other Arabs and Muslims, as an illegitimate entity, while the Land of Israel from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea is Islamic "waqf," holy endowment. Israelis fear that if a Palestinian state with territorial contiguity is established in Judea and Samaria, nothing will prevent it from, at some point, falling under Hamas rule. Further, the failure of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon to prevent the rearming of Hizbullah deters many Israelis from relying on an international force. Anyone who pushes the two sides into negotiations over a comprehensive solution at this time is likely to generate a crisis or even a clash that no one needs. The writer is a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University.