The Settlment excuse

Joseph Puder:

Unable to beat Israel on the battlefield, an attempt is being made to delegitimize the state by its actions regarding settlements. Interestingly, the Oslo Accords signed in 1993 by Yasser Arafat do not prohibit settlements.

The settlements have never been and never will be an obstacle to peace. If and when honest and frank negotiations resume and a territorial agreement with the Palestinians is signed, Israel may well dismantle additional settlements in Judea and Samaria. History shows, however, that dismantling settlements and making territorial concessions only makes the Palestinians more aggressive and obstinate.

Israel uprooted Jewish families from their homes in Gaza and Samaria in what became a national trauma. But abandoning the Jewish settlement and their economic assets did not bring peace or reconciliation — instead it brought more violence and more death. For the Palestinians, these unilateral Israeli concessions were a sign of weakness, causing them to launch even more terrorist attacks.

The endlessly repeated refrain about the “occupied territories” is sheer propaganda, since the territories never belonged to Palestinian Arabs. The Palestinian Authority was given control of the areas, and the only reason Israel continues to exert control is in reaction to Palestinian Arab violence.

The real obstacle to peace is the refusal of the Arab world to accept the existence of a Jewish state in their midst. Although it occupies one-thousandth of the combined size of Muslim states, Israel’s existence in the Middle East is, to most Arabs, unacceptable and should be fought to the last drop of (Israeli) blood. The Palestinian struggle is not so much for Palestinian self-determination as it is for the destruction of the Jewish, infidel state.

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Certainly expansion of the settlements would give the Arabs more of an incentive for peace than shutting down the expansion. That gives them something for nothing. The fact is they don't really want an agreement with Israel. They want an excuse to continue their opposition to Israel's existence and Obama and Clinton are making the mistake that preventing the expansion of the settlements will take away that excuse. It will not.

Why not give the Palestinian and Arab countries a deadline that requires them to enter into a peace agreement with Israel in six months or all restrictions on expansion of the settlements will be lifted? That would at least give them some incentive.

There is still the real problem that prevents a peace agreement. The Palestinians have nothing of value to offer Israel. Even if the PA or some other entity recognized the Jewish state, there are too many elements within the Palestinians who would not recognize it and would continue their state of war against Israel and the Palestinian Authority is not willing to fight a civil war to stop them. In otherwords, their words of peace have no value.