The Camp David Accords aren’t even 35 years old, but the latest violence between Hamas and Israel shows the fallacy underlying the principle of land for peace. Bluntly speaking, “land for peace” is dead; any diplomatic effort to revive it is likely doomed to fail. That does not mean that there cannot one day be peace, but Hamas’s actions—long planned for with equipment acquired even under the embargo—show how territory ceded brings not peace, but greater violence and vulnerability.
Just a back of a napkin sketch:
- 1956: The Eisenhower administration forces an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai; war erupts 11 years later, and six years after that at the cost of thousands of lives.
- 1982: Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai after Camp David; three decades later, Egypt actively helps to arm terrorists dedicated to Israel’s destruction.
- 1994: As the result of the Oslo Accords signed the previous year, Israel acquiesces to the creation of a Palestinian Authority. Palestine Liberation Organization chairman Yasir Arafat takes his diplomatic gains, but never abandons terrorism as his chief means of extracting concessions. Hundreds more die in terrorist attacks as Israelis for all practical purposes become less secure.
- 2000: Israel leaves southern Lebanon, a withdrawal the UN certifies as complete. In response, Hezbollah fills the vacuum, and claims not only the Shebaa Farms/Har Dov, but also seven villages in Israel’s Galilee. Six year later, Hezbollah launches thousands of missiles deep into Israel.
- 2005: Ariel Sharon, perhaps hoping to end his life as a dove rather than a warrior, unilaterally leaves the Gaza Strip. Almost immediately, terrorists begin their rocket barrage of Israel, striking not only at Sderot, but also at the Ashkelon Power Plant and, now, Tel Aviv.
Even the most dovish Israelis recognize the problem, and understand just what is at stake should Israel withdraw completely from the West Bank. Land for peace was good in theory, but not when Israel’s opponents seek land as the end goal, rather than peace.
Now more than ever Dore Gold’s “Defensible Borders” is a must read.
I think that for those who bullied Israel into Land for Peace (America), it was never about Peace. n nIt was about using Israeli blood and concessions to lubricate US/Arab relations. n nThe irony is that while the relationship between the US and the oil producing Arab world did in fact remain quite well lubricated (at least till the rise of militant Islam), it was Israel that was getting f**ked.
That's a very penetrating observation. Perhaps it is time for Israel to take prophylactic action.
Excellent!
The Petraeus affair clearly has me looking at things from a different perspective.
if by that "prophylactic action" you mean expelling people who are too crazy to understand that they're nearly as morally insane as Hamas, I disagree and refuse to consider it time to strip people such as Rubin of the right to live there. n Advocating endless war or some bigoted militaristic final victory that doesn't exist and trying to call it realistic or ethical is merely horrible and somewhat short of criminal. n n
What does this mean? Are you saying that Israel should stand by and allow another holocaust to take place because you would feel so morally pure because no eggs were broken to make an omelette? Take your guilt and self loathing and stuff it….you know where.
It doesn't even come down to the logistics of defensible borders. It comes down to the fact, the reality that they want nothing more than the complete extinction of Israel and all Jews. That is their end game. Their only goal. This is why 'negotiating' with them is not only a waste of time it's treasonous.
Empress, I have been saying that for years. If I were an Isreali Jew, I would have leveled na five mile border all around Isreal as a neutral zone and anyone who penetrated it would be cremated. Right now the jews have nothing to lose because the muslims will never give up. nnever never never !!!
Israel has quite a bit to lose by attempting that…..beginning with the entity that keeps it in existence.
Please explain, what entity is it that keeps Isreal in existence ?
the USA
I hate to say this Idubinsky, but the USA under Obama says one thing and does another. The USA under this administration supports muslims with millions of US dollars which emboldens them to attact Isreal. It is only my opinion of course, that this will pull Isreal into a war that may eventually be the demise of the Jewish state. I also believe that in Obama's mind , this would solve the problem in the middle east !
That won't solve the problem of missiles that become more lethal with each passing year.
Not to mention that the 1956 Suez campaign and the 1967 war would not have happened if the US and the other western countries had lived up to the "international guaranties" they had given Israel. Not to mention broken US guaranties under Reagan in 1982 in Lebanon, UN officials who helped Hizbollah kidnap IDF soldiers (who were later murdered) along the Lebanese borders, and other instances too numerous to mention. Anyone who tells Israel to take risks in reliance on international guaranties is a scoundrel, a fool, or both.
But what would you call the large number of Israelis who regularly call for withdrawal from strategic land let alone historically Jewish land in return for international guarantees. Sadly, this too is a regular feature of Israeli politics.
Like the man says, they are scoundrels, fools, or both.
I would call it the triumph of hope over experience.
actually, if you believe in a divine plan for Israel, thse two wars had to happen for Israel to regain Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. The question is, what of Gaza? Bu then Michael Rubin has it absolutely right. Virtually, no responsible Israeli will consider giving back the so-called Judea and Samaria now. And the israelis will continue building and spreading across Judea and Samaria- the present US government nothwithstanding. Iran is the next problem to be solved. let's hope it is done soon….
Thank goodness for Michael Rubin, whose perceptive posts aren't written with him constantly looking behind his back to see who is there or self-censoring himself to make sure his opinions don't veer too far from the responsible mainstream. Sadly, many of his colleagues at Commentary who should know better continue to call for dealing both with the criminal and genocidal PA (e.g. Seth Mandel) and recognizing a Palestinian state. They haven't learned the lesson that land for war or land for rockets isn't a rational exchange no more than feeding the crocodile in hope that it will eat you last.
They also tarred and feathered Gingrich for calling the palestinians a made up people. n nShameful, really.
Thank you reminding us of their shameful response. Carolyn Glick at the time also pounded them for it.
The international left thinks Israel was a post-colonial land grab. nThere will never be peace as long as islam thinks once muslim, always muslim.
No, a policy of land for peace was sound and remains sound. Ceding Sinai for a peace treaty with Egypt was sound. The Oslo process of letting Palestinians live under Palestinian administration, was sound. The promise of a final settlement where Palestinian populations live apart and independent of Israel, is sound. n nIt is only because Israel held out those generous offers and made those risky deals and showed, again and again he sincere desire for peace, her readiness to cede land for peace, that she retains the legal and moral high ground. Even as the Palestinian proved that theirs was a sham position that wants Israel in pieces, not peace. n nHowever grotesquely she is reviled by the Third World, the Left and anti-Semitic forces across the globe, she retains the high regard and support of thinking people of good will. That is the support she needs most. Without it Israel cannot survive. That does not just staunch her from abroad, but it is what justifies her from within. More than anything else Israel must believe in her own goodness and rightness. The fair and reasonable land for peace policy allows for that. n nShe must not deliver herself to destruction, just to show her good will, but she must retain her good will and commitment to fairness even as she resists cynical campaigns and murderous attacks.
If yoiu want to see what 80% of young Jewish people think and feel, look at the Tikkun website right now. They are renewing old-fashioned communism as a real option, and turning their backs on Israel. It's quite astonishing.
no, it's not the end of land for peace and the Israelis are not going to give up on peace of surrender the land and leave. n nnot gonna happen. the Israelis will stay and they will continue to offer to exchange land for peace because they have no other option other than to leave.