To claim that there is no solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict is ludicrous. Just like in the past, it will take a catastrophe to get Israel to sit down and make the painful concessions that are necessary. To end the conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have to spark a crisis by removing the settlements, withdrawing from most of the territories and making compromises regarding Jerusalem. But there's a chance that Israel can reach an agreement with the Palestinian Authority on a two-state solution.
Israeli governments always act when a crisis necessitates it. A peace agreement with Egypt was signed only after the blood-drenched Yom Kippur War, even though Anwar Sadat had offered Golda Meir a similar deal eight months before. Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to shake Yasser Arafat's hand and sign the Oslo Accords only after the first intifada. Ariel Sharon withdrew from Gaza following the second intifada.
An interim Israeli-Palestinian agreement requires Mr. Netanyahu to compromise on some of his principles, but it is better to do it now rather than wait for something catastrophic to happen. An agreement can be reached by sitting Israelis and Palestinians down in a closed room and tasking them with formulating an interim agreement.It can? Really? Just hand them a "task" in a closed room and, presto!, interim agreement?
Gee, I wonder why no one has thought to try that before? ;)
Mr. Raif does live on Earth, right, and not, say, on the planet Cluelessius? (You know--the orb where Jews "give back" stuff--southern Lebanon, Gaza--only to regret it later.) Or maybe on Alpha Centauri (where folks have stars in their eyes and mush for brains)?
Just wanted to check, because his ideas are so gaseous and other-wordly.
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