A former Israeli prime minister knew that lasting peace is built one agreement at a time, not through grand regional bargains that demand Israel surrender first.
I wonder if one reason comprehensive peace plans keep failing is that they create too many veto points. The more countries and issues you tie together, the more opportunities there are for one disagreement to derail everything. Bilateral agreements are more resilient because success depends on only two parties, and if one negotiation stalls, the others can still move forward. Sometimes progress isn't about finding the perfect solution—it's about finding a structure that can survive inevitable setbacks.
Western leaders don’t stop in Gaza or Ramallah to deliver hard truths because the Palestinians won’t care or listen. The West is more interested in using the Palestinian cause as a weapon against Israel than laying the groundwork for peace. When Hamas guns down Palestinians in Gaza, the West is silent. When Hamas steals humanitarian aid, Israel is accused of starving the Palestinians. The West does not hold the Palestinians accountable for their choices or actions. UNRWA has aided and abetted terrorism yet remains funded by much of Europe. The Palestinian Authority continues its pay for slay program and faces no consequences for doing so. Palestinian textbooks continue to preach the destruction of Israel. The draft Palestinian constitution, which France may have helped draft, erases Israel completely. The Palestinians are watching the hate protests in Western cities, are listening to the rhetoric coming from the Democrats and Western governments and have to believe they are winning. The Palestinians have neither a political nor economic reason for moderating their position. There will be no lasting peace - whether through a bilateral or regional framework - until the Palestinians accept Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state with its capital in Jerusalem. Nothing suggests this will change.
October 7 changed everything. The Abraham Accords may be a good place to start, but this is not the Israel of Begin anymore and it shouldn't be. Israel has given enough. It is time for the Arab world to do some introspection. Arab and Palestinian worlds need to deNazify their societies, then there will be a comprehensive peace. Until that is done, nothing will change and Israel knows that and she doesn't have to put her children at risk to soothe the egos of some elitest Jews in the Diaspora because their Jew-hating colleagues wont let them into their club.
Thanks for this thoughtful piece. It helps me organize my own thinking on the topic.
For me the most telling line is this "The next American leader who visits Israel to deliver hard truths should also stop in Ramallah and Gaza..."
Peace will never come until the world forces Gazans and West Bankers to accept their responsibility for the state of affairs. They must reject the practice of teaching hate. They must purge themselves of terrorism as a solution rather accepting that it is an obstacle. It can't be all on Israel. Indeed, as the article reminds us, Israel will take great risks for real peace.
Palestinians taking responsibility must be the structural steel of any architectural plan for lasting peace. Until then Israelis will be justified to view any Palestinian state, as Gaza became after 2005, a terror state.
Sadly, propagandists have persuaded far too many that the bully Israel is responsible for the violence. This sad situation will continue until Palestinians and their useful idiots in the west are force fed some "hard truths."
I wonder if one reason comprehensive peace plans keep failing is that they create too many veto points. The more countries and issues you tie together, the more opportunities there are for one disagreement to derail everything. Bilateral agreements are more resilient because success depends on only two parties, and if one negotiation stalls, the others can still move forward. Sometimes progress isn't about finding the perfect solution—it's about finding a structure that can survive inevitable setbacks.
Western leaders don’t stop in Gaza or Ramallah to deliver hard truths because the Palestinians won’t care or listen. The West is more interested in using the Palestinian cause as a weapon against Israel than laying the groundwork for peace. When Hamas guns down Palestinians in Gaza, the West is silent. When Hamas steals humanitarian aid, Israel is accused of starving the Palestinians. The West does not hold the Palestinians accountable for their choices or actions. UNRWA has aided and abetted terrorism yet remains funded by much of Europe. The Palestinian Authority continues its pay for slay program and faces no consequences for doing so. Palestinian textbooks continue to preach the destruction of Israel. The draft Palestinian constitution, which France may have helped draft, erases Israel completely. The Palestinians are watching the hate protests in Western cities, are listening to the rhetoric coming from the Democrats and Western governments and have to believe they are winning. The Palestinians have neither a political nor economic reason for moderating their position. There will be no lasting peace - whether through a bilateral or regional framework - until the Palestinians accept Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state with its capital in Jerusalem. Nothing suggests this will change.
October 7 changed everything. The Abraham Accords may be a good place to start, but this is not the Israel of Begin anymore and it shouldn't be. Israel has given enough. It is time for the Arab world to do some introspection. Arab and Palestinian worlds need to deNazify their societies, then there will be a comprehensive peace. Until that is done, nothing will change and Israel knows that and she doesn't have to put her children at risk to soothe the egos of some elitest Jews in the Diaspora because their Jew-hating colleagues wont let them into their club.
Thanks for this thoughtful piece. It helps me organize my own thinking on the topic.
For me the most telling line is this "The next American leader who visits Israel to deliver hard truths should also stop in Ramallah and Gaza..."
Peace will never come until the world forces Gazans and West Bankers to accept their responsibility for the state of affairs. They must reject the practice of teaching hate. They must purge themselves of terrorism as a solution rather accepting that it is an obstacle. It can't be all on Israel. Indeed, as the article reminds us, Israel will take great risks for real peace.
Palestinians taking responsibility must be the structural steel of any architectural plan for lasting peace. Until then Israelis will be justified to view any Palestinian state, as Gaza became after 2005, a terror state.
Sadly, propagandists have persuaded far too many that the bully Israel is responsible for the violence. This sad situation will continue until Palestinians and their useful idiots in the west are force fed some "hard truths."