Alternatives to negotiation
Op-ed: To counter Abbas’ de-legitimization campaign, Israel must demarcate its borders
The peace process is stuck. The Palestinian Authority does not want to negotiate with Israel. In fact, throughout the nearly two decade long political process, negotiations for peace were not a Palestinian priority. Instead, the Palestinian Authority had three primary goals; Israeli concessions, de-legitimization of Israel and international recognition for a Palestinian state.
The Palestinian Authority has seen success on all three counts.
In terms of concessions, Israel enabled and even encouraged the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. Israel withdrew its troops from towns with large Palestinian population and handed over control of civil affairs in those areas. Israel uprooted 10,000 of its own citizens from their Gush Katif homes and permitted Palestinians jurisdiction in Gaza. Tiny Israel would have probably been willing to give more real estate had it received real peace and security rather than terror and incitement.
Interim agreements were viewed as openings for further withdrawals. The most recent concessions came in the form of a 10-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, while Arab construction in these disputed lands continued unchallenged.
The Palestinian Authority was not satisfied with Israel’s concessions. They wanted more. They always want more. Once the 10-months freeze expired, the PA demanded another three months, which would have undoubtedly, been followed by another, ad infinitum.
The Palestinian Authority now realizes that Israel will no longer give something for nothing and even an agile American president cannot coerce Israel into doing so – not to mention a wobbly one. Hence, PA President Mahmoud Abbas is in search for an alternative.
Demarcate our borders
One alternative is war. That costly choice has, however, been tried too often before and is currently not desired by Abbas. It was never desired by Israel. More effective Palestinian alternatives are the de-legitimization of Israel and gaining international recognition of a Palestinian state on all the disputed territories. And that is exactly what they are hard at work on.
Palestinians are pursuing the de-legitimization of Israel from every available platform, including challenging Israel’s right to exist not only in Middle Eastern countries and in the various agencies of the United Nations, but also throughout college campuses in the United States, Canada and Europe.
At the same time, Abbas is succeeding where Arafat failed in terms of international recognition. Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador have already affirmed their intentions to recognize a unilaterally declared Palestinian state, and many more countries may follow suit.
Therefore, with a real peace process far from sight, Israel should strive for a national and then international consensus concerning the final demarcation of its secure and just borders. This should be based on the simple criteria of Maximum Area, Maximum Israelis and Minimum Non-Israelis within Israel's borders, limiting the relocation of residents to an absolute minimum. Such a national consensus, ratified by referendum, will set a concrete red line that all Israelis can identify with and will clarify what is and what is not negotiable.
Once the Palestinian Authority and its president realize Israel and Netanyahu have a viable alternative to negotiations – they might just want to talk.
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