Another take on the Israel-Palestinian conflict
Arabs continue to harass and murder Israelis despite the many losses they incurred as Israel defends itself. Israel has fought defense wars and terrorism even before statehood. Israel has been rejected as a Jewish state by Arab Palestinians, a position that is the root cause of the conflict. After the war of independence, the Six-Day War and the Yom Kipper war, Israel offered peace proposals, and each have been rejected.
Both Prime Ministers Barack (2000) and Olmert (2008) proposed withdrawal from over 90% of the West Bank settlements and agreed to have East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state. These generous proposals were rejected, and riots and terrorism were resumed. Why? Many will not agree with me, but I am among those that believe that the Palestinians want the Jews to disappear or accept being a minority, ending the existence of the Jewish State of Israel. Going back to the beginning of the 1947 partition plan of the United Nations, both Jews and Palestinians were each offered their own state, Jews accepted but Palestinians and Arab states rejected the U.N. proposal and went to war intent on strangling the newly reborn state. They still have that ambition.
Arab Israelis now number nearly 2 million. That is the largest number of Arabs that ever lived in pre-state or the current State of Israel. Recent polls revealed that 77% would choose to remain in Israel should there ever be a separate Palestinian state. This makes negotiations complicated.
So, what about a two- state solution? The U.S. Congress has reaffirmed that it favors a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The Arab Palestinians repeatedly have stated that their goal was to have only one state that they will dominate and eliminate the Jewish state. With their refusal to return to the negotiating table, how is a two-state solution to be achieved? And what about Gaza? Hamas has sworn to destroy Israel. It has fired hundreds of rockets and fire balloons into Israel. It has targeted the city of Sderot whose residents are pleading to the government for more action against Hamas. What more can Israel do to protect its citizens?
With all the above is a two-state solution possible? For now, the answer is no. It has been stated that the resolution of the conflict will have to wait for new leadership. There can be no guarantee that even then peace between these two parties will be achieved. The status quo will exist until Israel is recognized and accepted as a Jewish state by its adversaries.
Sol Koenigsberg
Overland Park, Kansas