So, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas claims that outgoing Israeli Prime Minister is promising to give the Palestinians nearly all the West Bank and much of East Jerusalem. Olmert thinks that Israel should quit most of the occupied land? Really? Why? And to who exactly?
Let's rewind things a bit shall we? We were at this point nearly a decade ago, and Israel's then Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered Yasir Arafat 90% of the West Bank, all of Gaza. That was at Camp David at a meeting brokered by President Bill Clinton. Arafat not only promptly rejected the offer without a counteroffer, but his terror minions started an Intifada within days. Since then, Palestinian standards of living have slumped as the terrorists have taken over Gaza and Palestinians scramble to make ends meet without easy access to work inside pre-1967 Israel.
Fatah is now in control of much of the West Bank, although if it wasn't propped up by Israel and Western aid and support, Hamas would quickly take over.
Hamas seeks Israel's destruction. It makes no bones about it. Hamas controls Gaza with an iron fist. Fatah is more circumspect, but still seeks Israel's destruction, it runs anti-Israel propaganda, and promotes hatred of Israel at every turn. Hamas and Fatah continue to fight over control of the Palestinian Authority, which has been a simmering civil war for several years now.
Does that sound like a partner in peace?
It isn't.
No amount of concessions Israel makes will ever be sufficient. The Palestinians will always demand still more. If it is not another dunam of land, it's demanding the right of Palestinians to return to live inside Israel proper. Or, it's demanding that Israel redivide Jerusalem so that the Palestinians can establish it as their capital, including the areas of Jerusalem that are most holy to Jews - the Temple Mount and Kotel which fall outside Israel's pre-1967 borders.
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