THE ISRAELI INTRACTABLE PROBLEM
The greatest single Israeli problem which has existed for 50 years has been the inability of Israeli-Palestinian people to separate into their own states. For many years it has been obvious that the Israeli leadership still appears to simply maintain the status quo. A peace settlement would resolve the major problem of Israel's difficult relations with all other peoples and world countries. The present Israeli leadership does not have the imagination, initiative, or resolution needed to end this problem. They simply are setup to respond to Palestinian knifings, car killings, bombings and such. Today, Israel has great military and economic power while the Palestinian people are simply existing in occupied areas. The Palestinians have no experience in organizing, running a new state and there is no real organized leadership or voting. The West Bank was part of Jordan originally. Occupation violence on both sides has been the answer to problems. But, Israel holds the high cards, and it's goverment must take the initiative, foster, and lead in creating a peace arrangement because the Palestinians cannot. Conditional demands that held up negotiations such as "recognizing Israel" or "recognizing 1947 borders " are senseless and would be resolved quickly during a serious negotiation. The Muslim part of Jersalem was stupedly annexed and was never part of the city. The present government appears to be incapable of ending this 50 year burden on the Israeli people and Palestinian violence is an excuse for the present situation to continue. All of the political pronouncements about Iran, UN, security, and settlements are simply diversions from Israels first responsibility to create a permanent separation. Surprisingly, the Israeli leadership has never been really pressured by its people to resolve this seemingly intractable situation.

Ralph Rosenfeld
Peoria, Arizona