Back to square one
Op-ed: Renewed peace negotiations with Palestinians will end in nothing, just like they did before
There's no need to stress that I am definitely in favor of renewing negotiations with the Palestinians,
as we must prove, once again, that we have the good will to find a solution to this eternal conflict.
For decades we have repeatedly come a huge way towards the Palestinians – up to conceding more than 90% of the territories which are the heart of the conflict. Not only that – we have already agreed to divide Jerusalem. What happened? Nothing. The "partners" rejected everything. Why? They just did. So what is going to make them compromise now, when they have a tail wind carrying them following the European Union's strange and outrageous boycott?
Yet it's important to be realistic. Allow me to quote a verse from the New Testament: "I hear the message well, but lack faith." In other words, I find it difficult to believe that the talks coming upon us finally will lead to a peace agreement. Why? Because it's still a long and winding road.
Different View
Merav Betito
Op-ed: Like social protest and new politics, peace negotiations making a glorious comeback
It's clear as daylight that this time too – even more than in the past – the Palestinians will not get off the high tree they climbed on, and that can already be seen in the demands to release a series of despicable murderers and build an airport.
Well, let's just assume (theoretically, of course) that there will be some movement in the stance of our Palestinian "partner." So what will we do with the other side of the Palestinians? After all, Hamas in Gaza has already declared that it has nothing to do with those talks with Israel. "They don't represent us," ruled the bosses of the second Palestine. So what good will the talks do?
Moreover, allow me to remind you that discussions about the 1967 borders are nothing more than fiction. In 1967 the Palestinians had no territories at all, and so they didn't have any borders either. The Gaza Strip belonged to Egypt and the West Bank to Jordan. Now they are demanding territories which were taken from them in 1949 by their brothers.
Fine, so we'll hold talks. But what about the results? Just the same as in the previous times.
