|
Trending Topics
|
Cheers and Cash for Terrorists Killed the Two-State Solution
(JNS-Israel Hayom) Jonathan S. Tobin - In his initial phone conversation with new Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he wanted to "emphasize the continued U.S. commitment to a two-state solution and opposition to policies that endanger its viability." This is a policy mindset that further empowers forces like Hamas and the supposedly "moderate" Palestinian Authority, groups whose ultimate aim is the destruction of, not coexistence with, Israel. Some still cling to the illusion that the phrase "two-state solution" is a magic formula that must be propped up despite the evidence of the last three decades that the Palestinians have no real interest in it. This is in stark contrast to public opinion in Israel. The problem is not just that the PA engages in a pay-for-slay scheme that rewards those who murder Israelis with salaries and pensions. It's that such an incentive is so popular that neither PA leader Mahmoud Abbas nor any of his potential successors would dare end it. The valorization of terror is an integral element of Palestinians' culture. The coveted two-state solution wasn't slain by so-called Israeli hard-liners. It was murdered by Palestinian cheer and cash for terrorists. Palestinian protests are not motivated by grievances about Israeli policies or aspirations for statehood. Rather, they are about rejecting the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where its boundaries might be drawn. That's why Abbas and his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, refused numerous compromises and peace offers, dating back to the Bill Clinton administration, which would have resulted in the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. This leaves Israel with an anomalous situation in which it must not relinquish security control over Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), even as the Palestinian population is governed in most of the area by Fatah and by Hamas in Gaza.