In his speech yesterday, Bibi Netanyahu responded to Obama’s Cairo speech by declaring that he would accept an independent Palestinian state, but with some preconditions. The Palestinians and the Arab states would have to recognize Israel as a Jewish state; the new state would have to be a demilitarized state with international guarantees that it remain so; Jerusalem would have to remain the undivided capital of Israel; Palestinian airspace would have to remain under Israeli control; and no Palestinian refugees would be allowed to resettle inside Israel.
The Palestinians, Egyptian President Mubarak and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter immediately rejected those conditions. Carter even rejected recognizing Israel as a Jewish state because 20% of the population is not Jewish. That schmuck also insists that Jerusalem must be divided.
Netanyahu promised that Israel would not build any new settlements, but he did not agree to a "freeze" of construction for "natural growth" in established settlements, a contentious program that Obama steadfastly opposes.
The Palestinians and the other Arabs demand that the Israelis accept all of their peace conditions. Their principal demands are that Israel must return every bit of the land it captured in 1967 during the Six Day War, including East Jerusalem as the capital of the new Palestinian state; and that Palestinian refugees must be given the right of return to their former lands inside Israel.
Let’s get real. Israel would find itself in a bloody civil war if it attempted to evict the 300,000 Israelis who reside in established settlements. And Israel cannot accept the Palestinian and Arab demands if it expects to survive as an independent state.
The Palestinians do not really want a peace agreement with Israel that will enable the Jewish state to remain independent. So, despite Obama’s huffing and puffing, the chances for a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the foreseeable future are slim to none.
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