The Two-State 'Solution' Mirage

"I wonder what he meant by that."

With that level of skepticism in mind, all shrewd diplomats and observers of diplomacy look beneath the surface language and actions of diplomacy to the underlying realities that will shape negotiations. Because, as professor Angelo M. Codevilla explains, effective diplomacy is, at its core, a "verbal representation of a persuasive reality ... indubitable reality itself convinces - sometimes even without verbal expression, or through non-verbal expression." As we enter this new round of U.S.-Israeli-Arab negotiations, one needs to keep firmly in mind the political realities that will either undergird or undermine the talks.

In the lead-up to the current round of meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama, the constantly repeated background theme has been that now is the vital moment to actually bring into being an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

As I discussed in this space last week, Mr. Obama is under extraordinary pressure - both from Arab leaders and commentators and his own White House staff - to be personally responsible for the talks' success or failure.

And, in turn, Mr. Netanyahu, is coming under even greater pressure to comply with the United States' proposed path to a "peace accord," the foundation of which is a two-state solution. That is to say, two sovereign nations side by side: Israel and a Palestinian state.

The Arab states have never been more united in preparing the diplomatic groundwork for these talks. In advance of this weeks Washington talks, the Arab states have let it be known that they will "reward" Israel with "confidence-building measures" as Nader Dahabi, Jordan's prime minster, said last weekend at a World Economic Forum in Jordan - should Israel cooperates in the negotiations.

But the premise of Arab cooperation includes adherence to the key provisions of the Saudi-sponsored plan: the right of Palestinian refugee return to Israel, and return to the pre-1967 war Israeli borders.

Now comes reality on to the stage to darken the dreams of would be peace makers. As shrewd old Talleyrand also once said: "I know where there is more wisdom than is found in Napoleon, Voltaire, or all the ministers present and to come - in public opinion." So consider this dismal data from the authoritative polling of the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project. The report tabulated the response to the key question No. 60: Which statement comes closest to your opinion? (1) A way can be found for the state of Israel to exist so that the rights and needs of the Palestinian people are taken care of, or, (2) the rights and needs of the Palestinian people cannot be taken care of as long as the state of Israel exists?

The specific percentages are as follows, with the key results being, by 77 percent to 16 percent, that Palestinians don't believe they can live side-by-side with Israel, while by 61 percent to 31 percent Israelis do believe they can live side-by-side with a Palestinian state. Note that all the Arab states are very negative, and all the Western states (plus Israel) are quite positive for a two-state solution.

Keep in mind, also, that after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signed a Sinai peace treaty with Israel, in October 1981 he was assassinated during a military parade in Cairo. A fatwa authorizing the assassination had been issued by Omar Abdel-Rahman, a cleric later convicted in the United States for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

It would take an unusually courageous leader to sign a peace treaty and his own death warrant in one document. And lest there be any doubt as to acceptability of a peace treaty without a right of refugee return (which would turn Israel into a majority Muslim, rather than Jewish state), consider the writing this week in the Los Angeles Times of Mustafa Barghothi member of the Palestinian parliament, a candidate for president in 2005, and currently secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative:

"Palestinians in the occupied territories have no standing to sign away the rights of the Palestinian citizens of Israel in order to get Israel to the negotiating table. To tell the truth, we don't believe that Israel can be a true democracy and an exclusivist Jewish state at the same time."

So long as fewer than 2 in 10 Arabs, both Palestinian and all others, believe in Israel's right to exist as a nation with a Jewish majority, there can be no successful peace based on a two-state solution. That is the reality that no diplomacy can change.

WRITTEN by Tony Blankley at The Washington Times on May 19th, 2009

The Pope Arrives in Jerusalem

At 4 a.m. Philadelphia time this morning (10 a.m. in Rome), Benedict XVI arrived at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he was greeted by Shimon Peres, president of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister, the country's civil and political authorities, and the ordinaries of the Holy Land.

In his address, the Pope expressed his thanks for the welcome to the State of Israel, "a land", he said, "which is held holy by millions of believers around the world, ... a land that is hallowed by the footsteps of patriarchs and prophets, a land that Christians hold in particular veneration as the setting for the events of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. ... I come, like so many others before me, to pray at the holy places, to pray especially for peace - peace here in the Holy Land, and peace throughout the world".

He also noted how the Holy See and the State of Israel "have many shared values, above all a commitment to give religion its rightful place in the life of society. The just ordering of social relationships presupposes and requires a respect for the freedom and dignity of every human being, whom Christians, Muslims and Jews alike believe to be created by a loving God and destined for eternal life. When the religious dimension of the human person is denied or marginalized, the very foundation for a proper understanding of inalienable human rights is placed in jeopardy.

"Tragically, the Jewish people have experienced the terrible consequences of ideologies that deny the fundamental dignity of every human person", he added. "It is right and fitting that, during my stay in Israel, I will have the opportunity to honour the memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Shoah, and to pray that humanity will never again witness a crime of such magnitude. Sadly, anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head in many parts of the world. This is totally unacceptable. Every effort must be made to combat anti-Semitism wherever it is found, and to promote respect and esteem for the members of every people, tribe, language and nation across the globe.

"During my stay in Jerusalem, I will have the pleasure of meeting many of this country's distinguished religious leaders. One thing that the three great monotheistic religions have in common is a special veneration for that holy city. It is my earnest hope that all pilgrims to the holy places will be able to access them freely and without restraint, to take part in religious ceremonies and to promote the worthy upkeep of places of worship on sacred sites".

The Holy Father continued: "Even though the name Jerusalem means 'city of peace', it is all too evident that, for decades, peace has tragically eluded the inhabitants of this holy land. The eyes of the world are upon the peoples of this region as they struggle to achieve a just and lasting solution to conflicts that have caused so much suffering. The hopes of countless men, women and children for a more secure and stable future depend on the outcome of negotiations for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

"In union with people of good will everywhere, I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding difficulties, so that both peoples may live in peace in a homeland of their own, within secure and internationally recognised borders. In this regard, I hope and pray that a climate of greater trust can soon be created that will enable the parties to make real progress along the road to peace and stability".

The Holy Father completed his remarks by addressing Catholics, recalling how he will be joining them in Nazareth for the concluding celebrations of the Year of the Family. "The family", he said, "is the 'first and indispensable teacher of peace', and hence it has a vital role to play in healing divisions in human society at every level.

"To the Christian communities in the Holy Land, I say: by your faithful witness to Him Who preached forgiveness and reconciliation, by your commitment to uphold the sacredness of every human life, you can make a particular contribution to ending the hostilities that for so long have afflicted this land. I pray that your continuing presence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories will bear much fruit in promoting peace and mutual respect among all the peoples who live in the lands of the Bible".

At the end of the ceremony the Pope travelled by helicopter to the heliport of Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, where he was greeted by Nir Barkat, mayor of the city. From there he was taken by car to the apostolic delegation in Jerusalem where he had lunch.

This afternoon the Holy Father is due to pay a courtesy visit to President Shimon Peres, to visit the Yad Vashem Memorial and to meet with members of organisations dedicated to inter-religious dialogue in the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centre.

From the Vatican Information Service notice posted at the EWTN website

An Existential Threat

Israel has been a people since early Biblical times, since around the 20th generation of mankind following their creation in the Garden of Eden. God promised the ancient land of Canaan to the Jewish patriarch Abraham and what would be his innumerable descendants in a covenant that would be in exchange for their worshiping Him as their God. This covenant anointed them as God's 'chosen people', and He promised them his blessings as long as they would worship Him and obey His commandments. God also promised Abraham that in regards to the nation he would "bless those who bless them, and curse those who curse them." The same covenant was made by God with Abraham's son Isaac, and through to Isaac's son Jacob, who during his life had his named changed to 'Israel'. The sons of Israel eventually prospered in the neighboring land of Egypt before their descendants became so numerous that the Pharaohs feared and enslaved them. After hundreds of years of slavery, the Israelites were freed by God through the leadership of Moses and the imposition of a series of plagues on the Egyptians. Under Moses and with God's help the Israelites returned to the promised land. Beginning just over a thousand years before the birth of Jesus Christ, and continuing for almost a thousand years, various Israelite kingdoms and states ruled over the promised land. This beginning is the root of Israel's nationhood, established here on earth by the will of God Himself. Down through the ages at various times the people of Israel drifted away from God's law, and He punished them with eviction from the promised land at the hands of the Romans and with dispersal among the nations of the earth in the time just after the life of Christ. However, he made another covenant with Israel that was conditional on them repenting, and returning to Him and His law. On this repentance they would be returned to the promised land, be restored with God, and be blessed even above their forefathers. In the last century we finally saw that regrouping of the Israeli people, the Jewish nation, in the promised land which culminated in the historic founding of the Nation of Israel. Since it's founding, the United States has been the biggest supporter of Israel, and it is God's promise of blessing on Israel's friends that is the foundation upon which America itself has flourished and become the world leader. But there remain enemies of God's chosen people here on earth who do not share Israel's faith or belief in God. These enemies do not recognize the covenant or even Israel's right to exist as a nation, and who want nothing less than Israel's expulsion from or destruction in the promised land. Recent decades have seen numerous attacks on Israel by these nations, either individually, in unison, or through proxy terrorist organizations. The goal is always the same for these Muslim nations: the destruction of Israel and it's erasure from the Middle East map. In recent years and months, the Islamic nation of Iran has been attempting to develop nuclear weapons as its radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made public statements that Israel is "a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm" and is "a regime based on evil that cannot continue and one day will vanish." On Tuesday, Israel saw Benjamin Netanyahu sworn in as its Prime Minister. The tough and hard-line Netanyahu was elected to the position by an Israeli population that had grown weary of its leaders constantly bargaining away land to the Arabs and receiving no reciprocity other than continued attacks and threats. While campaigning he promised that if he were elected "Iran will not acquire nuclear arms, and this implies everything necessary to carry this out." Now that he has been sworn in, Netanyahu has put the world, particularly American President Barack Obama, on notice that if nothing is done to dismantle Iran's nuclear program, then Israel will do it themselves, calling Iran "an existential threat to Israel." He is absolutely correct in this assessment. But Obama was elected in America largely as a peacemaker, and you can bet that he will not lead or authorize any attacks on Iran. Instead, he and the European leaders and the liberal media who have coddled radical Islam will continue to press Israel for further concessions, and even go so far as to paint the Israelis as instigators and aggressors. Nothing could be further from the truth, and the American people should not stand for an American administration that will not continue to actively support God's chosen people in the promised land. Turn away from Israel, and America will surely find that God will turn away from her, which would create the greatest existential threat to America in our own history as a nation.

Netanyahu or Livni: Why You Should Care

Approximately three weeks ago the people of Israel went to the polls in order to attempt to elect new leadership to guide them as the troubled Jewish nation moves forward in particularly challenging times. I am no expert on Israel or it's political process, but I am going to try to explain the possible outcomes, as well as to explain why that outcome is important to you. Americans have to begin by understanding that Israeli elections are not as clear-cut as those in the United States. For all of the faults of our own democratic system, all of the intense battles between Republicans and Democrats, Israel's hodgepodge of parties on both the left and right sides of the political spectrum cause extreme confusion. Not only that, but the plethora of parties with competing visions, goals, and ideologies makes it difficult to form a ruling governmental structure. In America it is easy to simply add up the number of Dems and GOP members in the House and Senate to get a picture of who holds the power. When the party in power in Congress is the same as that of the elected President, that party holds most of the cards in getting it's agenda passed. If there is a Democratic Party president with a Democratic majority congress, as there is right now, then liberal ideologies, programs, and laws are going to be front and center. With a Republican president and congress, such as happened in the beginning of the most recent Bush administration for example, then conservative principles, laws, and policies are going to hold sway. There are the same issues of government in Israel as there are in America regarding domestic problems, but in Israel there really is one issue above all others: national security. Israel is surrounded on all sides by neighbors that want to see it wiped from the map, including a few that have actually tried to accomplish just that feat. Against this backdrop was last month's Knesset election which came down to a struggle between former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured on left) and his Likud Party, and the Kadima Party of foreign minister Tzipi Livni (pictured on right.) To understand the importance, think of the Knesset as the Israeli version of America's congress. The Likud Party is a conservative party, and has been either the ruling party in the Knesset or the leading opposition party for over three decades. It calls for a "peace for peace" initiative in regards to its Arab neighbors, meaning that Israel will agree to peace on the condition that her neighbors comply with the same in an overt and verifiable manner. The Kadima Party was just formed in the past few years and is generally considered a more centrist political group. Kadima has been criticized by many because a feature of their Arab policy has been the surrendering of the territory in Judea and Samaria, key territory in properly defending Israel from the attacks of terror organizations such as Hamas. Likud is also more of a free market, small government party, whereas Kadima's economic platform seems to blow with the popular breeze. Unlike here in America where ours is a vast majority two-party system, it is not just Likud and Kadima in Israel. The Labor Party also has strong influence, and there are other smaller parties that have little or no shot at ruling the government outright, but which can and do wield influence by siding with one or the other of the larger parties in helping them to form a ruling government. The recent elections left no clear winner, but they did tilt towards the more conservative groups headed by Netanyahu. It is thus likely that he and Likud will ultimately come to power as the various groups negotiate their particular roles in the government. The importance of Israel to Americans is many-fold, but there are three vital reasons that we need to support a strong, stable Israel. First there is the issue of Israel's vital presence and example as a democracy in the Middle East in the midst of the many dictatorships and theocracies in that unstable region. Secondly is the issue of Israel's political plight as a microcosm of our own. The same problems plague the Israeli population as plague traditional America, an assault on values and basic principles that is led by an overtly liberal press and media. For a conservative government to emerge in that atmosphere should be comforting and encouraging to American conservatives and traditionalists. Finally, but most importantly, is the basic importance of Israel as the home of God's chosen people. The Jews were given this land by God Himself as is told in the Bible in Exodus 23:20-33 in which He proclaims "I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines (the Mediterranean Sea), and from the desert to the River (the Euphrates.)" While the new Israel that finally re-emerged into statehood during the 20th century does not stretch that far at this point, it should not be expected to give up any of its lands. God also said here that "I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes." The vast majority of Americans have understood throughout our history that we have been a particularly blessed nation because of our Judeo-Christian foundation on and our continued belief in the one true God. We have risen to new levels of strength and power as a nation in large part thanks to this support of Israel, His chosen people. If you are among the vast majority of Americans who still claim to believe in God, and the clear majority who hold the Bible as the inspired Word of God, then you need to take His proclamations seriously. We need to always concern ourselves with the security of Israel and to ensure that we are prepared to help fight for its continued existence. For this very reason her political choices, which go to the very heart of that security, should be of vital interest to all Americans.