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A Palestinian State Established Prematurely Will Implode

[Politico] Alon Pinkas - It is an excruciating dilemma that the Palestinians cannot govern the West Bank effectively and guarantee security. A Palestinian state may be supported all around the world on grounds of self-determination, but if it is established prematurely, it will implode and fail. A failed state on its border is a perilous development that Israel cannot and should not accept, considering the Palestinians' proclivity for terrorism. Studying the past two decades of peacemaking and analyzing his predecessors' policies would indicate clearly to Obama that there is no causal relationship between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinians' failure to gain their desired state. While settlements are a perfectly legitimate issue for negotiations, the failure should be attributed to Palestinian recalcitrance and lack of statesmanship when it mattered most. Had the Palestinians accepted what was offered at Camp David in 2000, they would be celebrating their fifth independence day this year. One of the enduring conclusions Israelis draw from the past years of negotiations is that the Palestinians seem not to want to resolve "1967 issues" concerning borders and sovereignty. Rather, they reject any accommodation unless "1948 issues" - the very establishment of Israel (and refugees) - are dealt with to their full satisfaction. This is not realist statesmanship but a recipe for continued conflict. The writer is a former Israeli consul general in New York.
2009-09-25 08:00:00
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