As someone who generally considers himself a friend of Israel, I really am stunned by the foolish decision to re-commence settlement construction in the West Bank. I know there are plenty of people out there who’ve memorized 18 different reasons why Israel is theoretically justified in putting up new homes on the ground. But as I argued at length here, that is beside the point: Mahmoud Abbas is a legitimate peace partner, and it is simply idiotic for Israel to stubbornly insist on wrecking any chance for fruitful peace talks by willfully violating the one red-line issue that the PA President has insisted upon. And for what? To build a few hundred more houses and empower the most militant and uncompromising political settler-friendly elements within Israel?
The Gaza flotilla has gotten a lot of the press in recent months. But in that case, the Israeli government at least could legitimately argue that it was interdicting aid to Hamas, an entity that truly is at war with Israel. In the case of settlement construction, Israel is sabotaging a chance for peace, full stop. And aside from everything else, that’s a terrible message for an already beleaguered nation to the send to the world.
jkay@nationalpost.com
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