Yair Lapid, an Israeli pundit and son of a the late left-wing politician Tommy Lapid, appears to have solved the peace process dilemma facing Israel and the Palestinians. I have advocated this solution for years, although never as eloquently and directly as Lapid, who hits the nail on the head. The premise:
- the peace process is in a stand still;
- dismisses both the notion that Palestinian values often do not coincide with values of Israel and the West, and that Israel will eventually be able to suppress Palestinian dissent over not having a state;
- the international community, including the United Nations, will continue to be biased toward the Palestinians until they have their own state, thus losing some status as the victims;
- Israel should welcome or even unilaterally declare Palestinian statehood and pull out of the West Bank;
- once with a state, the Palestinians must be held accountable for their actions and the government must take responsibility for the actions of its citizens;
- dismisses the patronizing position that Palestinians have no control over their own destiny and their actions help dictate the outcome;
- if the Palestinians use their new state to launch terror attacks on Israel, then Israel should be able to retaliate just like any other state would retaliate against another hostile country.
This position would immediately establish a two state solution and use deterance and, if necessary, actual force to ensure Israeli security. Palestinians might still complain over not having the right of return, but that is generally accepted as an impossibility anyways. Israeli right-wing settlers would clamor about being kicked out of their homes and the ‘historic’ state of Israel, but that it is also generally accepted that the West Bank will be the future home of the Palestinians and not orthodox Jews.
My hat’s off to you, Mr. Lapid.