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Why Israel Can't Just Walk Away from the West Bank
(Ha'aretz) Lt.-Col. (ret.) Peter Lerner - The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is 82 and suffers from failing health. He has no clear successor, and a power struggle will most surely happen within his own camp once he leaves the stage. At the same time, Hamas is preparing to pounce in order to challenge the Palestinian Authority's West Bank leadership. Topography and geography play a key role in the strategic debate about peace with the Palestinians. The West Bank is a mountain ridge that Israel requires in order to safeguard its civilians. In the shadows of the West Bank's hills, between Haifa and Ashkelon, lies 70% of Israel's population and 80% of its industry. Anyone who controls that mountainous area controls everything beneath it. With Iranian leaders calling Israel a cancerous tumor and eyeing Jordan as its next playground, can any Israeli leadership relinquish security control over such a strategic asset? The writer served for 25 years in the IDF as a spokesperson and liaison officer to international organizations in the West Bank and Gaza.