Tell you what, if the PA recognize Israel as a sovereign state in the Middle East, prove they are dismantling your terrorist infrastructures, stop sending their suicide bombers into our cities, towns and marketplaces, stop inciting hatred and spreading blood libels through their media,their mosques, their educational system and throughout their society, stop brainwashing their children into believing that the fast track to virgins in Paradise requires them to become human grenades and murder as many Jews as possible, stop firing missiles at us, and cease behaving like a failed, terrorist state, then we'll come to the table with a settlement offer that will bring both societies peace and prosperity

First of all, if you are really from Haifa, then you know that there is no comparison between Israel and S. Africa. Which toilets, restaurants and busses etc can't Arabs use along with Israelis? And black rule has destroyed two prosperous economies. Zimbabwe once exported food to the world and it's people are now starving and nearly all S. Africans that had any iota of creativity have now left the country. Is that what you'd like to see happen to Israel? Who would you like to make peace with? Hamas? No chance. Abbas? He can't even get a pizza delivered. Shabbat shalom, Mike

The United States has no right to force such a demand upon Israel. Particularly given the facts on the ground: twice-rejected offers of a two state solution; six wars; sixty years of terror; etc. And just who will be Israel's "negotiating" partner? There are too many competing organizations, each claiming to be the true spokesperson for the Palestinian people. See the problem? Does the United States pressure Morocco to establish an independent Polisario state? No. Does the United States pressure Spain to establish an independent Basque state? No. Does the United States pressure Japan to establish an independent Ainu state? No. Does the United States pressure Canada to allow Quebec its independence from Canada? No. Does the United States pressure England to return the six northern counties to Ireland? No. Does the United States pressure France to allow Bretagne and Savoie their independence? No. Does the United States pressure Finland, Sweden or Norway to creaate an independent state for the Sami people? No. And what about the Kurdish people? Does the United States apply pressure upon Turkey? Or Iraq? Or Iran? No, no and again no. So what kind of nonsense is this? We're Jews, so a special set of rules apply? Such pressure is unconscionable, and violates every principle of international diplomacy between sovereign States I can think of. MOST IMPORTANTLY: I reiterate my earlier point. The Palestinians have a record of over 60 years of bad choices. You cannot put toothpaste back into the tube. The Palestinians have to live with the consequences of their disastrous decisions -- which include twice rejecting a two-state solution; agitating six wars; and sixty-odd years of violence and terror. THEY SHOULD NOT BE REWARDED FOR THAT.

Aren't there still alot of Palestinians in jordan...are they complaining or are they happy? Maybe Palestinians should return to jordan, and some to Egypt and forget about destrying Israel? Then the ME will have peace and quiet...until then, no such thing will happen as a result of both sides being stubborn and extreme.

will be destruction and overthrow and civil war and famine and plagues and foreign invasion along with natural disasters. The southern part of Britain will be overthrown by radical Muslims in a day. Southern Europe will be taken over by Muslims. Since the little horn or Anti-Christ of Daniel chapter 8 comes from one of the four parts the notable horn (USA) breaks into, at least part of America is taken over by Islamics. All these judgments could be delayed or prevented by the people if they stop sinning and turn back to the Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: Yah, Yahweh, YHVH. The book, "As America Has Done to Israel" documents the horrific consequences of American foreign policy aimed at coercing Israel into a two State solution for the Palestinians or other concessions that are contrary to the landgrant from the Lord to the descendants of Jacob the Patriarch.

You're missing one crucial distinction between all the cases you list, and the situation in Israel and Palestine: all the peoples you list get to vote in the elections of the countries they want independence from. There are three options for the land between the river Jordan and the sea: 1) One government running Israel, voted for by Israelis, and another government running Palestine, voted for by Palestinians 2) One government running Israel and Palestine, voted for by Israelis and Palestinians. 3) One government running Israel and Palestine, voted for by Israelis. #1) is the two-state solution, advocated by Obama. #2) is the one-state solution, and would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state. #3) is the status quo, and is apartheid, plain and simple. If the Israeli government wants to control the Palestinians lives without allowing them to vote for it, it's putting itself out of the category with France, Canada etc, and into the category of South Africa a couple of decades ago.

The only thing left in order to deny the Jewish identity is to invent a "nation" to take their place. Everything else failed; destruction of their temple, eviction from their land, forced conversions, burning Bibles, ghettos, exterminations and so will this final attempt.

Flexibility means a two-state solution, and shabbat shalom to you, despite the fact that I am neither a Christian Arab living in Haifa nor a defeatist leftist up for deportation by some fascist talkbacker here

Look closely at the activities of Mitchell. He comes barking orders. Why did he meet with Livni? Is it because of a subtle desire to set her up as PM by manipulating politics in Israel? He and Obama reject Bibi and LIberman. Meeting with Livni is a slap in the face to Netanyahu. Israel shouldn't let this man inside their borders. Marcel is correct. Watch the breakup of America take shape. Watch how weather disasters etc. come on America every time she sticks her nose into Israeli affairs.

Actually, I did not miss the point. I am arguing for a two-state solution, in an oblique way. Israel remains Israel. A Jewish state. Judea and Samaria are fully and formally annexed. The Palestinians who reside in Judea and Samaria have to go to Jordan. That's your Palestinian state. And it wouldn't be half-bad if the Palestinians who are Israeli citizens went off to Jordan to help build a Palestinian state. Has it escaped your notice that since the creation of the Palestine Authority, not one single Palestinian living in Israel (or anywhere else, for that matter) have flocked to land controlled by the PA to contribute to the creation of a viable state? Not one. Contrast that with all the Jews who flocked to Israel to help build a country. The only viable two-state solution leaves the West Bank with Israel and sends the Palestinian residents to Jordan. This is not a problem of Israel's making, except it had the temerity to win all the wars that the Arabs started. Since when do the vanquished set the terms? Since when?

Nein. Give the Palestinians who have ruined the beautiful Gaza Israel created to Egypt. Leave Gaza with Israel. Give the Palestinians who have destroyed the healthy economy and infrastructure on the West Bank to Jordan. Leave the West Bank with Israel. The losers of six wars do not get to dictate the terms of anything. Coming from Germany as you do, you know this fact well enough.

You obviously don't know Bibi and Lieberman. These guys are tough, pushy Jews and, unlike the lame-brained Olmert, if they give any concessions, it will be on their terms, not America's. Clinton was smart and savvy like Obama, but though he brought these folks to the table, he could not get them to agree on concessions. You are too stupid if you think that a right-leaning administration in Israel is going to play footsy with Israel's security. Get a clue, moron.

Palestinian Authority. It was created by the Oslo Accords and it provides free elections for Palestinians to choose their own leadership. It was created as part of a multi-stage plan to prepare the Palestinians for statehood (which has since broken down for reasons that only tangentially relate to this talkback) called the "Road Map to Peace". The reality of the situation is that these "Palestinians" actually held Jordanian citizenship until 1988, when Jordan renounced claims over Judea and Samaria and subsequently stripped the Arabs living both there and in Gaza of their Jordanian citizenship. Jordan literally dumped these people at Israel's doorstep. Never mind the fact that the Palestinians have rejected every offer of statehood that has been presented to them. Never mind that the PA could declare independence tomorrow if it wanted, but chooses not to. Never mind that the original British Mandate of Palestine included all of modern day Israel AND Jordan and that a 2-state solution was created in the 1920's, giving the portion of the Mandate east of the Jordan river to the Arabs and the western portion to the Jews. Never mind that over 100,000 Jews living in modern-day Jordan were forcibly relocated (read: ETHNICALLY CLEANSED) by the British to the west of the river in a half-hearted attempt to implement this 2-state solution. Never mind the fact that your country failed to fulfill its responsibilities in the region, cut & ran, and now, 60 years later, attempts to impose another dead-in-the-water solution to end the conflict it had a huge hand in creating. I shall make, in the words of Jonathan Swift, "a modest proposal"- I challenge you to actually study the history of the region and what international law has to say about the current situation before giving voice to your opinions. Thank you.

Israeli citizens vote in Israeli elections (this includes Israeli Arabs.) Israel, like Great Britain and America during WW2, will impose quotas on immigration and/or absobing refugees in order to preserve its Jewish majority. This is NOT Apartheid; it is the right of a sovereign nation to determine its destiny. Israel wants nothing to do with governing the Palestinian territories. That is up to the Palestinian people, and I must say, they do a pretty poor job of it, but that's a different discussion. Israel did not thwart elections in the territories on the insistence of well-meaning American interlocuters like Condi Rice. Is THAT what you call Apartheid? Lo and behold, they ended up with a Hamas win that has been very damaging to Israel's security.

Israeli citizens vote in Israeli elections (this includes Israeli Arabs.) Israel, like Great Britain and America during WW2, will impose quotas on immigration and/or absobing refugees in order to preserve its Jewish majority. This is NOT Apartheid; it is the right of a sovereign nation to determine its destiny. Israel wants nothing to do with governing the Palestinian territories. That is up to the Palestinian people, and I must say, they do a pretty poor job of it, but that's a different discussion. Israel did not thwart elections in the territories on the insistence of well-meaning American interlocuters like Condi Rice. Is THAT what you call Apartheid? Lo and behold, they ended up with a Hamas win that has been very damaging to Israel's security.

and, as you can see, the israeli top brass answered NO! it is our time in our land and when we feel secure and that we are dealing with a civil society that can indeed build a peaceful country besides ours, then maybe there is a chance for two states to live in peace. so far, we are not convinced nor ready to relinquish our security and existence so that you guys can be happy because, while you will live in safety in the usa and europe, we israelis will be on the front line of the terror and barbarism eminating from that new state you desire so much.

Yes, if all the Palestinians decided to emigrate to Jordan, it would solve all Israel's problems. However, the Palestinians, for some incomprehensible reason, want to stay in their own homes in the land their ancestors have inhabited for innumerable generations, rather than emmigrating to a foreign country to make room for Israel - I can't imagine why they think like that, but it's clear that they do. Even though Israel has impoverished and oppressed them immensely and killed thousands of them for doing so, they still stay in their homes, which suggests they really don't want to leave them. Israel almost certainly *has* the military muscle to ethnically cleanse them by force, and it's been electing governments with successively fewer moral scruples, but if it were to try to do so then a) I hope and suspect the rest of the world would step in to stop it, and b) it would kill all hopes of peace between Israel and its neighbours - probably including Egypt - for ever. And short of that, they aren't going anywhere. Which means that Israel has to deal with the Palestinians where they are, in Palestine - either let them vote for your government, let them vote for their own, or embrace an apartheid system.

Why is it allowable for the future state of palestine to be apartheid - no Jews allowed- yet arabs can live in Israel? And what about the Jews who were evicted from their homes in the arab nations for some incomprehensible reason?

Yea well we the American People have been DEMANDING Obama produce a Birth Certificate since he began his campaign...STILL NO BIRTH CERTIFICATE!! He's paying ALOT of money not to as well.Over a million dollars so far. So Israel dont worry about what the usurper Obama says, We all know that you could these Jordanian rejects all the land in middle east and it wont bring peace. They've shown us that in Gaza.You do what you need to do Israel, God Almighty is on your side.