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The Long Road to Peace in the Middle East - Interview with Itamar Rabinovich
(Breitbart Big Peace) Giyus.org met with Prof. Itamar Rabinovich, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. (1992-1996): The question is whether Abbas is "an effective peace partner." One that can sign an agreement, fulfill it and stand behind it for the long run. Under these criteria, Abbas is not an effective partner for peace. Even if we assume he has full control of the West Bank, he does not control Gaza and cannot deliver a full agreement. As for the Palestinians self declaring their state, it is not a realistic scenario. It will not pass the UN Security Council. Furthermore, the issue of Gaza will turn up immediately. I'm not willing to accept the term "right of return." If you look at UN Resolution 194, which describes the rights of refugees and on which the Palestinians rely on when discussing the issue, there is no mention of the right of return. When talking about this topic I call it the "claim of return" and here are some points to explain the issue: Compared with the 600,000 Palestinians that left when Israel was established, an even larger number of Jews left their homes in Arab states. Israel helped those Jews settle in and make a new home. They did not remain refugees. The Palestinians, however, remained refugees in the Arab states that took them in. UNRWA and its food stamps made the problem worse for the Palestinians. Practically speaking, there is no way to allow 2-3 million Palestinians into Israel. If this is what you demand, you do not want peace. Israel was established in 1948, 3 years after the end of WWII. So many people had been displaced in those years and yet none of them remained refugees. The only people that remained refugees were the Palestinians.