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A Referendum on Israel
(New York Times) Daniel Gordis - Israelis understand that what ignited Palestinian nationalism was, ironically, Palestinians' witnessing the rebirth of a newly sovereign Jewish people. Nonetheless, the upcoming UN vote is more a referendum on Israel than it is on Palestine. Israel is now witness to Iran's continuing nuclear aspirations, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's cozying up to Iran by threatening Israel and Egyptian masses who despise Israel simply for existing. Iran, Turkey and Egypt have assumed their positions because of radicalization in the Arab world, not because of anything to do with the Palestinians. Just days ago, Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority claimed that the Palestinians' land had been occupied for 63 years. The "occupation" to which he refers is thus not the result of Israel's victory in 1967, but rather, Israel's very creation in 1948. Such hatred of the Jewish state cannot be appeased. The writer is president of the Shalem Foundation and a senior fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem.