by MK Ofir Akunis
This is not about one
specific piece of paper or another. It is also not that important
whether a framework agreement is crafted, or a just a frame to an
agreement. The title is not what matters, and neither is the debate on
whether or not such a deal should or should not be accepted. One thing,
however, is becoming clear: The true obstacle for peace is the
Palestinians themselves.
The Palestinians'
insistent refusal to recognize Israel as the Jewish people's rightful
homeland exposes the most sensitive nerve in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. This is not a territorial dispute, but rather one that focuses
on the very essence and existence of the State of Israel.
When Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas repeatedly says, "Palestine could
never recognize Israel as a Jewish state," he reveals the most basic
truth about the very nature of the conflict. In a way, we should welcome
his honesty.
Unlike certain members
of the Israeli public, who believe the root of the conflict lies with
our victory in the 1967 Six-Day War and the settlement enterprise across
Judea and Samaria, Abbas' words reveal their own fundamental truth
about how the Palestinians view Israel's existence.
This means that the
flawed "two states for two peoples" formula is not applicable. The
Palestinians themselves denounce it, and in this case -- they only
reinforce the perception that forming a Palestinian state in Judea and
Samaria would be a mistake.
We have been here for
4,000 years. The hills of Judea and Samaria are the very cradle of the
Jewish people's history, and unlike the lies the Arab MKs incessantly
foster, the Jewish settlement of the land of Israel has always been
continuous.
From a security
standpoint, the inception of a Palestinian state would be a strategic
catastrophe. The ridges overlooking the majority of Israel's population
could easily be taken over by Hamas, world jihad and al-Qaida terrorists
-- a nightmare scenario which has already become a reality in Gaza
Strip, where we had retreated back to the 1967 lines.
We expected the end of
terrorism, since the territorial dispute had been resolved, but reality
soon proved otherwise. Are Ashdod, Ashkelon, Sderot and Ofakim cities
are under occupation? According to the Palestinians, who do not spare
them rocket salvoes, the answer is yes.
From a broader
perspective, the Middle East has recently undergone changes the likes of
which the region has not seen since the end of WWI. Since the onset of
the Arab Spring, governments have come and gone in Egypt and in Libya,
and the bloody civil war in Syria has already claimed over 130,000
victims with no end in sight. Concession will not bring peace closer --
it will only increase terror; and a gradual withdrawal, as suggested by
the United States, will destabilize the area rather than stabilize it.
The Palestinian
themselves have stated that they have no interest in the two-state
formula. They aspire for a Palestinian state "free of Jews" in Judea and
Samaria, as Abbas had put it and another state in the Gaza Strip, which
will also be "Jew-free" and has already become a terrorist base that
threatens half of Israel's territory. They want another state alongside
those two, in sovereign Israel, which will not be the Jewish state but a
binational state.
In other words, the
Palestinians do not want two states for two people, but three states for
one people -- the Palestinian people. That is the core of the conflict.
The simplistic notion
that forming a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines will resolve
the conflict is fictional at best and malicious deceit at worst. When
reading the conclusions of the recent report about the Palestinian
incitement against Israel, it is very hard to misunderstand our
neighbors' intentions. If you truly seek peace, you do not teach your
children to hate.
The Palestinians are
not under Israeli occupation. Some 98 percent of them vote for the
Palestinian parliament and run their own affairs. What is needed now is
the continued governance of the Palestinians by the Palestinian
Authority and the expansion of regional economic cooperation between the
Palestinians, Jordan and Egypt.
Israel is required to
continue to safeguard the security of its citizens in the Golan Heights,
the Jordan Valley and Judea and Samaria -- and to stay put.
MK Ofir Akunis (Likud) is a deputy minister at the Prime Minister's Office.
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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