The Arabs walk into Bibi’s trap

While criticizing Prime Minister Netanyahu for going along with the negotiations farce, I have acknowledge that his doing so was understandable, given all the forces lined up against Israel and its concomitant need to demonstrate its willingness to play according to the rules of the international game. So long as he stuck with his conditions for a Palestinian state, such as that the Palestinian recognize Israel as a Jewish state, which he knew that the Palestinians would never be willing to meet, Israel would be in no real danger of being trapped into some disastrous agreement. To the contrary, by being theoretically open to the possibility of a Palestinian state, but based on reasonable conditions, Netanyahu would expose the unreasonableness of the Palestinians for all the world to see.

Here, from the Jerusalem Post, is evidence that Netanyahu’s strategy is working:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told interviewers that he would not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Israel Radio reported on Tuesday.

Abbas reportedly said that his position is no different from those Arafat present in previous negotiations, and that his staff is the same as Arafat’s.

He also hinted that the PA may fall apart if there is no hope for a solution in the near future. He then repeated that the PA will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Well, then, what is there left to negotiate about? Will even the Israel haters of the European left insist that Israel continue discussing a “two-state” solution with a party that refuses as a matter of fundamental principle to recognize the state of Israel?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 07, 2010 03:26 PM | Send