Palestinians, Arabs offer Israel nothing of value

Cal Thomas:

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There are other questions related to the pressure the Obama administration is applying to Israel to stop building "settlements," which supposedly will persuade that nation's sworn enemies to stop killing Jews. They are linked to the false premise that it's only what Israel does, or doesn't do that affects the so-called "peace process." If peace doesn't happen, blame it on the Jews. It's always their fault.

Those questions include: What could the Jews have done seven decades ago to dissuade Hitler from his "Final Solution"? What can modern Israelis do today to keep from being murdered by those who continue to hate Jews simply for being Jews? The answer to both questions is: nothing. Jews were murdered then and now, not for anything they did, but simply for being Jewish.

The notion that modern Israel, which was created out of the ashes of the Holocaust precisely because much of the world (the Arab world excepted) did not want another Holocaust, could have done something to prevent the killings has been the fundamental flaw in American foreign policy for decades.

The Latin phrase "quid pro quo" means "something for something." Israel has given lots of quid, but has received little quo. The Obama administration is again pressing Israel to stop building homes on its historic territory. The political geniuses believe this will magically cause Israel's enemies to either reciprocate with a peaceful act, or at least suspend the terrorism for a while in order to give the administration political cover for another sellout of the Jews. But as Middle East commentator Yoram Ettinger writes on his Website "Israeli policy-makers and public opinion molders tend to accept U.S. administrations as top authorities on the Middle East." Ettinger lists numerous instances -- beginning with the founding of Israel in 1948 -- that remind how they have been consistently wrong in their judgments.

George Mitchell, the administration's Middle East envoy, is visiting Israel this week to continue "negotiations." These are not real negotiations because only one side is expected to give anything and the other side is never held accountable for failing to live up to its promises.

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The Palestinians offer their own victimization and the Arabs throw in a few tokens that can be easily withdrawn the next time Israel responds to terrorist attacks. None of these will restrain terrorist from launching furter attacks on Israel. The Palestinians are unwilling to accept responsibility for attacks launched from territory they would control. Arab states like Syria will continue to offer sanctuary to the terrorist. Until they have something of value to offer Israel, the Israelis have little incentive to agree to anything that might lead to their own demise.