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What Six Days Achieved

(Commentary) Jonathan S. Tobin - So long as the goal of Israel's foes is its destruction and not merely withdrawal from the West Bank or parts of Jerusalem, the only way to look at the Six-Day War or the current impasse is through the prism of survival. That was just as true 45 years ago when Israel's government was instructed by the world - including the U.S. - to sit back and wait to be attacked, as it is today. What was at stake in those six days was simple survival as Arab armies massed to attempt to reverse the verdict of the 1948-49 War of Independence. The overwhelming majority of Israelis have no wish to rule over millions of Palestinians. But the roadblock to peace that would create a two-state solution has never been the settlements. It has been the Palestinians' rejection of peace offers that would have given them independence in most of the territories in 2000, 2001 and 2008 and their refusal to even restart negotiations. In the absence of a sea change in Palestinian political culture that would allow them to live in peace alongside a Jewish state, peace is impossible. What Israel must and can do is what it has been doing for 45 years: waiting for the Arabs to come to their senses and give up a notion of Palestinian nationalism that is rooted in negation of Zionism.
2012-06-08 00:00:00
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