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Why the U.S. Failed to Advance Israeli-Palestinian Peace
(Times of Israel) David Horovitz - Many Israelis recognize an imperative to separate from the Palestinians, but in today's treacherous Middle East, they need more persuasion than ever that relinquishing territory will bring guaranteed tranquility rather than escalated terrorism. While Secretary of State John Kerry and President Barack Obama assured Israelis they could afford to take the risk of territorial compromise, we have watched countries all around us descend into chaos, and seen every unsavory terror group you can name gain footholds in the neighborhood. We have watched Iran grow emboldened and richer, thanks to a lousy accord that did not fully dismantle its rogue nuclear program. We saw Hizbullah fill the vacuum when we left southern Lebanon. We watched Hamas take over when we left Gaza, and we have since endured rocket fire and intermittent conflict as the reward for our withdrawal, even as we have been battered internationally for fighting back. We have witnessed Mahmoud Abbas' West Bank Palestinian hierarchy encourage hostility to Israel, lie about our plans for the Temple Mount, and rewrite the previous Muslim narrative that acknowledged the historicity of Jerusalem's Jewish temples in favor of a revisionist creed that denies all Jewish connection to the holy city and thus delegitimates Israel's very presence. The lesson that Kerry refused to learn, but that his successors would be wise to, is that you cannot broker peace when the people on one side of the negotiating table do not so much as acknowledge the right of the people on the other side to be there.