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Source: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1077957465476
Forget About a Palestinian State
(Jerusalem Post) Efraim Inbar - Despite the fact that a large majority of Israelis favor a negotiated two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they are also quite aware that the Palestinians are incapable of establishing a political entity living peacefully next to Israel. Next to Israel lies a sick society led by a pathological national movement. It is a society that produces suicide bombers that have become a role model in kindergartens and schools. A two-state settlement is elusive because of the Palestinian national movement's inability to establish a state and maintain it. Massive foreign aid rendered in the previous decade generally failed to filter down to the masses. Moreover, the high rates of economic growth needed to match the high fertility rate of the Palestinians are very improbable, and will actually doom the Palestinians to even greater poverty in the near future. Given the opportunity of self-rule in 1993, the Palestinians established a corrupt, inefficient, lawless, and authoritarian political system - an example of a failed state. Even with the best intentions and much territorial largesse, there is nothing Israel could do to bring about a Palestinian state any time soon. Israel is left with only one option: unilateral measures to minimize the repercussions. Nothing Israel can do will spare it the need to deal with extremely hostile neighbors ready to pay a high price for acting on their hatred. Israelis have to get used to the idea that there is no peaceful solution in sight - only interim measures to manage the conflict. The writer is professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University and director of the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies.