Honesty is the best policy. Instead of playing games, Israel's prime minister would do well to tell the Americans the same thing Prime Minister Golda Meir told them. "During negotiations with Richard Nixon, Golda Meir put forward the argument that there were already two states between the Mediterranean Sea and the borders of Iraq, in what was once Palestine. These, she said were Israel and Jordan (the original area of Britain's Palestine Mandate had included the territory of the Hashemite kingdom). 'There is no room for a third. The Palestinians must find the solution to their problem together with that Arab country, Jordan, because a "Palestinian State" between us and Jordan can only become a base from which it will be even more convenient to attack and destroy Israel.' (Israel: A History, by Martin Gilbert, pg. 416-417)

The San Remo Treaty gave Jews all of the Palestinian Mandate. We agreed to give the lion's share of it to the Hashemites to establish an Arab country there. Since we have already given we should also receive.

We would do the same thing only in our case it would be to apply the Yovel (Jubillee) year and redeem all of the land of Israel for the Jewish people from Dan to Eilat

Not part of OUR land and not even the hope for part of OUR land. Peace for peace, or war for war where the end-game is them no longer here. In OUR land.

Any palestinian a "Palestinian-Muslim" state. If the want to call it that, it would only be appropriate, since we call most Muslim countries as such today anyway. They all make it clear they are Islamic republics, so what difference would it make if they all changed their names to Syria-Muslim state or any of the others that are the same? Wouldn't make any difference and Israel wouldn't object!!

You think the Ukraine was a state when the USSR was in Power .Or East Germany or Bulgaria.Yet they voted in the UN .Jewish Security now and into the future is Paramount. .Either the Islamic World Accepts it or it's a Icy Peace like with Eygypt and that's probably the Best it will Get .Palestinian Autonomy and Jews control Security and Immigration.Vote in Un To be Determined .

The problem is, treaties are not solidified on paper - but they are with time and facts on the ground. No matter what assurances you have on paper, only time will tell if one side is dishonest in the way they uphold the INTENT of a treaty.

Mr. Ephraim Halevy's piece of avoiding reminds me of the old joke: If the Bubba were a Zeida, would she put on Tefillin? But she is not. And surrender is not "pragmatism," as Neville Chamberlain had to learn at a cost of many lives. And the land of Israel was, is, and always will be, by Grace of God, the land of Israel. There is not and never was "Palestine." It is merely an anti-Semitic invention. All the jabbering in the world will not change this basic fact. We all agree that Lebanon is an Arab country with Christian and Muslim Arabs residents and many expatriate Jews. Ditto, to greater or lesser extent, all Arab countries. Some are, and were, Moslem countries. None of that has anything at all to do with Israel. If self-hating leftists of Jewish origin can't accept that, it is no surprise that Arabs - who know better - won't accept a Jewish State. If Jews don't think Israel s Jewish State, then they take advantage of the stupidity and play along too. Everyone likes to get something for nothing. If a madman stands on a street corner and hands out dollar bills, we are all happy to accept his largess. This situation is no different. Leftists are that madman. Of all people, Mr Halevey knows how idiotic his suggestion really is. But he likes getting ink, if if, to get he, he need to spread discord. As the 9th director of the Mossad, who knows more than he does about spreading disinformation? Too bad he can't see that negotiating with what passes for the present Arab leadership has nothing in common with his claim to fame, a successful negotiation with Hussain, King of Jordan. I am sure, in his day, Mr. Halevy performed his mission well. But life moves on and Halevey has not grown. He reminds me of the first grade teacher, who after teaching first grade for 20 years was passed over for a promotion and complained to the Principal. "I have 25 years of experience," she remonstrated. "No,my dear," said the principal. "You have but one year of experience, repeated 25 times." For a first-grade teacher that's bad. But when someone of his stature writes nonsense like, ""no Democratic president has ever strong-armed Israel on any key national security issue," it is obvious he is no longer in touch with any present day realities. He ought stick to devoting his time to Shorashim where he does not put the Jewish people in harm's way by continuing to fight yesterday's war. .

Mess with the Jews expect to get reciprocity ten fold from above. The world, if no one has noticed is being turned upside down this is all for the benefit of the Jewish people. It is clear as daylight in the Prophets. We need to be patient. By the end of this year sweeping changes will visit the entire world. This is no time to make hasty agreements on anything..

"In other words, recognizing the Palestinians' right to a "Palestinian-Muslim" state". I don't think Israel cares what the PA call their new State; if it ever happens. It wouldn't be in parts of the Land of Israel if Israel surrenders it to the PA Why Palestinian recognition of a Jewish state really matters. If Jews are not perceived as a nation but as a religious community, they have no authentic claim for sovereignty over any part of the land.

...what's Israel's obligation at all?

Just the right thing to say, to boost nations morale & resolve: what a pathetic excuse of a man....

Mr. Halevy, don't you know the difference in meanings of being Jewish and Muslim? Jewishness is not exclusively a religion, Judaism is also about the Jewish nation, culture, history etc. Being Muslim means to belong only to that religion, no matter of one's nationality. For that reason Jews have all legal rights to have their own nation state, which is, in fact, nowaday's Israel!

as iam an old woman from jerusalem iam araby and moslem ..once i re plid to a comment of an old jewish woman liv e in europ demand a jewish state allover the land ..i asked her ..what is your pain ??? theni explain my pain over this land ......there is an arabic saying (tight your finger correctly it will not bleed or infected )peace is for people not for lands

obligations.

israeli jewish state. period. all of the arab countries call themselves arab countries. moslem is religeon. jewish is a people. this is a jewish country.

Thank you David Sarna. My principal concern with the creation of an arab terrorist state in Judea and Samaria at the gates of Jerusalem and Gush Dan, Tel Aviv, is that this state will immediately come under the influence of iran. When Rabin proposed Oslo he never agreed to the establishment of an arab terrorist state. Further, since 1993, Iran has become an ever greater growing threat to the middle east and particularly Israel. Who in their right mind would agree to bringing the iran threat to the gates of Jerusalem and Gush Dan. Its bad enough that the Iranian threat exists in Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Gaza, Hamas. Israel ignores the Iranian threat, menace at its peril.

I told Halevy that I honored his service on behalf of the state of israel, when we met last year in Boca Raton. However that service does make his opinion(s) any more correct than those of Mr. Disken and or Dagan. The late Prime Minister Itzhak Rabin is a very good example of the point I want to make. In the middle 1990"s going back on his campaign pledge, Rabin agreed to return the Golan Heights to Syria, on certain condition s. This was a secret promise that Rabin made to Secretary of State Christopher. Nobody in Israel, was aware of this secret promise. Can you imagine the security implications, today if Syria controlled the Golan Heights! If you do not believe me go to Mount Bintal observation point on the Golan and see for yourself. Retention of the Golan is an irreplaceable security asset for the state of israel.

It is clear why Netanyahu has been making the demand for recognition of the "Jewish State": it forces an answer to the question of whether Palestinians will continue to make claims against Israel or whether the conflict is truly terminating. And so it is clear what it means when the Palestinians reject that. But as any agreement requires recognition of a Palestinian state, which Israelis may find necessary if not necessarily endearing, it is not clear what horror the additional classification of Palestine as "Arab-Muslim" is supposed to inflict. If they want to add that clause, why not? It would not even rank in the top 100 most offensive things that Palestinians have ever demanded of Israel. Of course, I agree that Israel still has to get the hard details right, in addition to the words. Ukraine had a very nicely worded treaty with Russia, too.