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Warning Shots

(New Republic) Martin Peretz - The withdrawal from Gaza by Israel was supposed to be a test. That the hudna (ceasefire) would hold. It didn't. What about security undertakings with regard to Gaza's border with Egypt? Again a failure. Is there elemental public order on the streets? Chaos rules in Gaza, utter mayhem. The fact is that almost no one in Israel any longer believes in a negotiated peace with the Palestinians. Not because sensible and humane Israelis can't imagine a fair divide of the land between the river and the sea. But because Gaza has truly shown them that there are - let's be perfectly frank - no Palestinians with whom to treat. Not a single security assurance from the Palestinians has ever held. There is no dispute: This is the record. All this has consequences for the West Bank. Sooner or later, and particularly if there is a withdrawal from the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, rockets and missiles will be as common there as they are in Gaza and Lebanon. Already, al-Qaeda has claimed (and Israeli intelligence has confirmed) that it was responsible for at least one rocket attack on Israel proper. Those who casually promote the notion that Israel should disengage from here, there, nearly everywhere close to the 1949 lines are proposing that the Jewish state commit suicide. Virtually the entire country, including Ben-Gurion Airport, would be vulnerable to even simple weaponry.
2006-01-04 00:00:00
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