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Does Israel's Coalition Deal Means the U.S. Peace Plan Is Back on Track?

(Spectator-UK) Stephen Daisley - Israel finally has a government. Incumbent prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz signed a pact on Monday which will see them take turns at being premier. The U.S. peace plan assigns 30% of Judea and Samaria to Israel and the other 70% to a demilitarized Palestinian state. The U.S. intends to recognize Israeli sovereignty in areas of the West Bank provided Jerusalem agrees to map out a Palestinian state with its opposite numbers in Ramallah. The Palestinians and their forerunner representatives have refused every offer of statehood made to them. One of the reasons for Palestinian rejectionism is that such behavior is rewarded by the international community. Israel makes concessions, the Palestinians spurn the concessions, the world demands Israel make more, Israel makes more, the Palestinians again rebuff them, and the world shakes its collective head at those hard-line Israelis who just refuse to give any ground. Encouraging Palestinian intransigence keeps them stateless and their national fate in the hands of others. Indulging their rejectionism, their payments to terrorists who kill Israelis, and their kindergarten plays where children dress up as suicide bombers makes it all the harder to achieve a Palestinian state. In preparation for likely changes to Israel's map, the UK should recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, commit to moving the UK's embassy there once the Covid-19 pandemic has subsided, and affirm, as the U.S. has, that civilian settlements are not per se inconsistent with international law. Any country that considers itself a friend to the Palestinians should beg them to take the deal and end the conflict. Britain should affirm a promise it made a century ago and never again treat an ally like an "illegal occupier" in their own land.
2020-04-23 00:00:00
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