Even if I became “the sweet half of the Arab world” … where is the powder keg that Israel fears?

In his article “The Palestinians: One Hundred Years of Religion” (27/10/2020), Dan Shiften reiterates the claim about the Palestinians’ misappropriation of opportunities to achieve peace with Israel. According to him, free leadership has made the Palestinians lose the Israelis, the Americans and even Europe and the Arab countries.

Had Shiften conducted an objective analysis, he would have found that some lethargic Israeli leaders threw the 1987 “London Agreement” in the trash of history, as did the 2002 Saudi initiative, which was approved by the Palestinian leadership and rejected. by Ariel Sharon.

However, the question is not limited to historical analysis. Even assuming that Palestinian history is a collection of missteps, while our history is a series of peace efforts that have been rejected, the real question is what will happen to us? What is the future of Israel in a situation where “business as usual” is the reality of a single state, with very partial autonomy for the Palestinians, over a small part of the West Bank, and with a very problematic legal situation, in which the minority rules by majority, through laws that allow it to have legal coverage, presumably. This is the powder keg that could explode in the face or in that of those who follow us, and it is the one that we must dismantle.

It is misleading to think that this powder keg will explode from world exhaustion with Palestinian complaints, that Arab countries prefer their interests and establish political and economic relations with Israel, and that this administration or that administration proposes unlikely peace plans. The only practical way to dismantle the barrel is to set a border between us and the Palestinians.

The most practical solution was to reach an agreement with Jordan immediately after the Six Day War on the basis of the armistice boundaries between us and it, with reasonable changes including part of the Old City of Jerusalem. The national bloc government asked King Hussein to annex 30 percent of the West Bank, and explained that it was not possible on his part. If it is not possible to talk to the Palestinians again, and if Jordan is ready to settle with us (despite having ceded the West Bank 32 years ago) which includes the West Bank, then Israel will function properly if it agrees. If that too proves not feasible, we will have to move to the one-sided option. This is a possibility that the one-state solution would be worse than. It has many flaws and one advantage: Israel is not in a situation where a Jewish minority rules over an Arab majority.

Arab countries have for years been interested in getting closer to Israel because it opens the doors to America and for its scientific, economic and security development. Even if the whole world is convinced that the Palestinian leadership is imperfect, and even if we become the love of the Arab and Islamic world, we will not solve the most difficult problem at our doorstep: guaranteeing Israel as a viable Jewish and democratic state.

Of: Yossi Beilin

Israel today 4 /11/ 2020