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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel could set borders unilaterally
2012-06-01
It was bound to happen. The Israelis, growing weary of looking for a Palestinian leader actually committed to negotiating a two-state solution, are starting to consider laying down their own parameters for an interim situation and then waiting for Palestinians to come to the negotiating table.

No less a figure than Ehud Barak, the current defense minister and a former prime minister, this week floated the idea of Israel adopting “a provisional arrangement or even unilateral action” setting borders.

He’s not the only one. In forming a national unity government a few weeks back, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu elevated to deputy prime minister Shaul Mofaz, a former paratrooper who saw action in three of Israel’s wars and who favors establishing a temporary Palestinian state on about 60 percent of the West Bank. And in April three prominent Israelis, including Ami Ayalon, a former official of the Mossad intelligence agency, advocated “unilateral actions” in an op-ed in the New York Times. They argued the Jewish state can transform the stalemate, writing, “Israel can and must take constructive steps to advance the reality of two states based on the 1967 borders with land swaps — regardless of whether Palestinian leaders have agreed to accept it.”
Posted by:tipper

#6  FYI The Geopolitics of Israel: Biblical and Modern
Posted by: newc   2012-06-01 18:46  

#5  "It's over! Enough! ENOUGH!" (1:48)
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth   2012-06-01 15:29  

#4  Yup. It's time to draw the line and end it. Keep Judah and Sumaria and lock the rest down. It's a done deal.You can never placate these children no matter what you do.
Posted by: newc   2012-06-01 14:12  

#3  If Obama objects, tell him "We Won".

Posted by: Ptah   2012-06-01 13:56  

#2  Finally. They get it.

Yo, Israel: you've won four major wars, put down several large insurrections, and numerous small groups of terrorist thugs. In world history, this is called, "VICTORY".

To the victor goes the spoils.

Now then: you've been too nice. You've been too moral. That's your problem right there. It is understandable given what has happened to the Jewish people these last few hundred years combined with the teachings of your holy book.

But you've got to get over this enough to start thinking of your long-term survival. Golda Meir pointed out that you would have peace with the Palestinians when they began to love their children more than they loved war, jihad and death.

That day doesn't seem to be around the corner, does it?

Ariel Sharon figured this out, and he had a solution. Draw a line in the sand. That's the border. Build a big wall: cconcrete, barbed wire, moats, alligators, sharks with lasers on their heads. What's inside is yours and you don't care what's outside, as long as what's outside doesn't threaten you.

And don't slavishly follow the 1967 border. You WON, remember? YOU get to decide where the border will be. You need some extra land to ensure your defense (or just to enjoy the view), take it. If you wish to be magnanimous, fine, but there's no requirement under international law for you to be a chump.

Put the onus on the Palestinians to make decisions. The world has been infantilizing them this past half-century. From the UNHCR to the Arabs to the Quartet to each and every American president since Harry Truman, we've treated the Palestinians as wards, incapable of being responsible for their behavior. That has to stop. Force the Palestinians to get their acts together.

But to do that, you have to treat them as a people. No problem. Build a wall. What's inside is Israel, what's outside is Palestine. Let the Palestinians figure out how to run it. Gobsmack them if they mess with you, and make sure that the Palestinians ALWAYS know that the mailed fist is ready. If they do manage to behave, then work with them to the extent that you can and desire.

It won't be peace. But it will be a lot more quiet.
Posted by: Steve White   2012-06-01 11:19  

#1  Long past time Israel said, "These are our borders. Tough shit."
Posted by: DarthVader   2012-06-01 11:16  

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