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To Solve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: First Confront Iran

(The Hill) Sander Gerber and Robert Wexler - Peace in the Middle East will never come about until diplomats and politicians address the real reason why the region remains in chaos: the destabilizing role Iran and its proxies play. Iran trained and funded Hamas with the mission to refocus global attention on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's time for the world to confront what - and who - is behind this crisis. To counter the growing unity of Iran's allies, the U.S. should build a coalition of Western and Arab partners to support using economic and military pressure against Iran and its proxies with zero-tolerance for their attacks. American foreign policy must express unequivocal opposition to Islamist extremism in all its forms. Putting the current Palestinian Authority back in charge of Gaza is risky. Congress, in passing the Taylor Force Act, found that the PA rewards terror through their "Pay for Slay" program, and even compensates the Hamas killers. The first step towards a revamped PA must be the elimination of "Pay for Slay," replaced by a Palestinian welfare system based on economic factors, not rewards for terrorist acts against Israel. The only hope for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies through building a coalition to neutralize Iran and its dedicated obstruction of a solution. The writers are members of the U.S. State Department's Middle East Partnership for Peace Act advisory board. Sander Gerber is a fellow and steering committee member of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Robert Wexler, a former congressman (D-Fla.), is president of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.
2024-01-08 00:00:00
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