ISRAEL EXCLUSIVE | CARRIE HART


Peace, Peace Where There Is No Peace


News events change suddenly in the Middle East, but what doesn’t change is the quest for peace. Yet peace between Israel and the Palestinians seems as elusive as ever.


As the sluggish peace process bumps along, the political climate suggests Israelis are tired of conceding to the Pal- estinians and receiving nothing in return. In January, 350 rabbis signed a petition asking Netanyahu not to make additional diplomatic and territorial concessions in order to get the Palestinians to return to direct talks.


For years, the Palestinians have reiter- ated their red lines, without deviating from their policy. They demand an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders; the establishment of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital; and the right of return to Israel for millions of Palestinian “refugees.”


While the Palestinians have stuck to their demands, the same cannot be said of Israel. The vision of a Greater Israel (from the Nile River to the Euphrates), embraced by biblical Zionists during Israel’s first years as a modern state, has vanished. Now, the hope to remain on all the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River is vanishing. Israeli lead- ers have relented to global pressure and


given up land for peace. It’s the Palestin- ians who have said, “No,” even when the Israelis went beyond their own red lines.


There’s a familiar saying in Israel: “The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”


During negotiations between former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and former Egyptian President Anwar Sa- dat, resulting in the signing of the 1978 Camp David Accords, Begin refused to put Jerusalem on the bargaining table.


Yet, at Camp David in 2000, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to a divi- sion of Jerusalem. At the time, 600,000 Israelis protested, forming a human chain around the Old City, expressing anger with Barak’s offer. It was former Palestin- ian Chairman Yasser Arafat who refused that deal.


In September 2000, the Palestinians 20 JewishVoiceToday.org | March/April 2011


started the second Intifada (uprising), launching suicide bombings, blowing up buses and restaurants, killing 1,000 Israelis and injuring 6,000 during the next several years.


In August 2005, former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon enacted the Gaza Disen- gagement Plan. The unilateral withdraw- al displaced all Israeli citizens living in the Gaza Strip, and in four settlements in the northern West Bank (Judea and Samaria). After the Gaza withdrawal, Hamas filled the vacuum. Today, they govern Gaza where no Jews live anymore.


In 2008 former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas another deal, which included giving up 93-97% of the West Bank to the Palestinians and additional land swaps. Jerusalem would be divided, and under no sovereignty, but with oversight by several states. Abbas turned Olmert down.


There’s a familiar saying in Israel: “The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Those who are surprised by Israel’s concessions over biblical land may be thanking God for missed opportunities.


Netanyahu has inherited a peace process that started in 1977. After former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat signed


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