(New York Daily News) Michael Oren - Back in 2005, Israel uprooted all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza, evicting their 9,000 residents, in order to advance peace. But in the seven years since, Israel has been targeted by nearly 9,000 terrorist rockets from Gaza. Clearly, settlements are not the reason. All of the settlements account for a very small percentage of the West Bank. Most of them are concentrated in blocs that have become suburbs of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Everyone understands that these blocs will always remain part of Israel, even if a Palestinian state is negotiated. All of the building recently approved by the Israeli government was in Jerusalem and these blocs. E1 is a stretch of desert, less than 2 miles long, connecting Jerusalem to its suburb of Maale Adumim, home to 40,000 Israelis. Every Israeli prime minister in the past 40 years has planned to build in E1 in order to prevent Maale Adumim's isolation. That construction will not, as the Palestinians claim, divide the West Bank. Just look at a map. Israel recognizes the Palestinians as a people who could have a state if their leaders agreed to sit with ours and work out the complex issues between us. The writer is Israel's ambassador to the U.S.
2012-12-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive