Posted on 03/04/2009 11:05:52 AM PST by Convert from ECUSA
A unity government will reportedly not be created, because Tzipi Livni thinks Benjamin Netanyahu does not adhere to the notion of the "two-state solution." But is this the only political solution? This is what Livni and many others around the world think, but it isn't so.
Not only is it far from being the single solution, it’s a bad solution, and will likely never be achieved.
The idea of "two states" is based on a series of assumptions: First, the assumption that the primary Palestinian national ambition is statehood. There is no basis to this. The Palestinian ethos is based on values such as justice, victimization, revenge, and above all, the "right of return."
It's true that the Palestinians want to do away with the occupation, but it's wrong to assume that this translates into a desire for an independent state. They would prefer the solution of "no state at all" – that is, the State of Israel will cease to exist and the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River will be divided among Jordan, Syria and Egypt.
The second assumption is that if a Palestinian state is created, it will be ruled by "moderates." There is no basis to this. It is likely that the regime in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank will fall within a short time into the hands of Hamas.
The third assumption is that two stable states can exist in the narrow strip that lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is easy to prove this is not possible: the Palestinian state will not be able to be independent and Israel will not be able to defend itself.
The fourth assumption is that Israel can implement this agreement; that is, an agreement that entails evacuating 100,000 settlers from Judea and Samaria. Even if we ignore the social and political intricacies of this, such an operation would cost more than $30 billion, not including billions more that will be required to redeploy the army. Is this possible?
In short, the most the Israeli government can offer the Palestinians, and still survive politically, is less than the minimum that a Palestinian regime can accept, and still survive politically.
Chance for change There are at least two other solutions that are much more beneficial, and not only for Israel.
The first is to create an independent political entity in the West Bank that will be part of a confederation with Jordan. This may sound surprising, but there are increasing voices, both in Jordan and in the West Bank, in support of this idea.
The Jordanian logic is simple: If a Palestinian state is created, it will be ruled by Hamas, and a Hamas state neighboring Jordan is the beginning of the end for the Hashemite Kingdom. So it is better that control over security in the West Bank be in Jordanian hands.
Palestinians who support this idea do so for two reasons: They prefer a Jordanian rule to Hamas rule, and it is the quickest way to dispose of the Israelis.
The second alternative is a regional solution, in which there will be an exchange of territory not only between Israel and the Palestinian state; rather, Egypt will also be involved. Gaza can be expanded to three times its size, on account of Egyptian territory, and can be given genuine economic viability.
In exchange, the Palestinians will renounce a significant piece of land in the West Bank, and this will allow Israel to decrease the number of evacuees to 30,000.
Israel will compensate Egypt with territories in the south by opening a land crossing between Egypt and Jordan, north of Eilat, and more.
Back to the new Israeli government: Netanyahu would do best by not only rejecting the "two-state solution" but also persuading the United States to examine alternative solutions.
US President Barack Obama talked about change – here's a chance to make a change in the way the Americans have been looking at the situation until now.
Ping!
I clicked on it because I thought it was about the foolish idea to divide California into two states.
Glad I read this though!
If you'd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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This is a polite way to say that no-one cares if Arabs massacre Arabs. Well played.
Any Paleostinian state will be a missile and rocket state. Either immediately or in a year or two. And even a “moderate” Palestinian government will refuse to or be unable to stop the fanatics from firing them
So a Paleostinian state on the West Bank, no matter how well intentioned, is a knife in the back for Israel because Paleostinian rockets and missiles will be very close to Jerusalem and many other Israeli population centers
With today’s low oil price the wind is taken out Islam’s sails. I don’t see so much agitation for a Paleostinian state. The Europeans don’t care much either as they see how awful their own Muslims behave
The latest outrage is the feral Muzzies are stopping meals on wheels to the elderly in Denmark in neighborhoods they control
What a tiger without stalking and hunting and eating? What is Islam without Jihad? At Tours Islam got such a defeat of Jihad the ruling Caliphate dynasty was overthrown and Islam gave up Jihad for a century or two
They would prefer the solution of "no state at all" -- that is, the State of Israel will cease to exist and the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River will be divided among Jordan, Syria and Egypt.
Why create another Palestinian state, when all of the Arabs that I have talked to in Israel, are better off in Israel.
This is what they tell me.
And one Palestinian that I know, finally got to leave there and became a translator for the USA army, and he is so glad to be here. He considers the Palestinian areas as “evil places”. Jewish people even allow Arabs to serve in the Knesset. Arabs can teach school in Israel and have decent jobs. Inside of Israel, many Arabs and Jews are good friends.
Thanks, I agree.
Israel can’t afford to resume its occupation of Gaza, unless it removes the Arab infestation. The EU and US have been supporting the growth of the Arab population in Gaza through brainless subsidies; the subsidy approach would work if we didn’t rely on the terrorist gangs to administer them. Short of US occupation and nation-building — and therefore, the eradication of the terrorist groups — which would include a steady water supply (probably through reverse osmosis or other desalination technology, iow, expensive), and division of the countryside into something resembling family farms (pop density is about 4200 per sq km, so 238 sq meters per person; for a family of seven, which corresponds to the Gazan birth rate of 5 per woman, 1666 sq meters per farm, which is less than one half acre, basically a city double lot), the Gazan Arabs are headed for suicide.
Therefore Israel can outwait the Arabs, but really can’t tolerate the rocket and mortar bombardment, and that’s therefore the only thing the Arabs have in their favor. It won’t stop unless Gaza is disarmed. My view is that Israel should foment more disorder and division among the PLO/”PA” factions, keep them fighting, build and maintain border fences, annex so-called East Jerusalem and recolonize it, also help overthrow the Syrian regime (using covert and occasional overt means) so it can sink into chaos, then go into Lebanon and annihilate the Hizzies, drive out the Syrian occupiers, and basically liberate Lebanon.
Let’s leverage the good demographic news
[in Israel, Jewish births rising, Arab fertility falling]
The Jerusalem Post | 2/22/2009 | Yoram Ettinger
Posted on 02/24/2009 5:56:49 PM PST by ChicagoHebrew
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2193297/posts
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