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Stop Denying the Israeli Consensus on the Palestinians

(JNS.org) Jonathan S. Tobin - Yair Lapid, who leads the Israeli opposition Yesh Atid party, was reported by Ha'aretz as saying that any negotiations with the Palestinians would need to be conducted "in very slow stages" and that it will take "15-20 years, the main element of which is security arrangements." Why so slow when so many claim it is a matter of urgency to withdraw from the West Bank as soon as possible? His answer: "I don't believe the Palestinians." His stance is similar to that of the head of the opposition in the Knesset - Isaac Herzog of the Zionist Union party - who issued his own peace plan in which he asserted that peace would have to wait until at least 10 years passed, during which the Palestinians would need to completely refrain from anti-Israel terror. Rather than advocate a surrender of the disputed territories in order to create a Palestinian state as soon as possible, the two opposition leaders agree peace is nowhere in sight. Their reason is that Palestinian intentions toward Israel are such that all Israel would be doing is attempting to trade land for terror, rather than for peace. In a remarkable demonstration of a broad consensus, Netanyahu, Herzog and Lapid all understand that until a sea change occurs within their political culture that will render peace acceptable to most Palestinians, Israel has no alternative but to hold its ground.
2017-04-03 00:00:00
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