Why Palestinians should say yes

“They never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” said Israeli ambassador Abba Eban about Israel’s Arab neighbors.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the blues brothers. (Photo: Reuters/Ronen Zvulun)

This was decades ago, but they are about to miss another opportunity — a peace plan proposed by the United States, announced by President Donald Trump, who is impeached, standing next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been charged with corruption. Talk about the blues brothers.

The plan, hatched by presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, favors Israel, as it should (I will explain why in a moment), but has the tentative approval of Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi,   who usually hates anything 45 does. You can read about what Trump calls “the deal of the century” here. It is complicated.

Liberal Washington Post columnist David Ignatius described the plan as a squeeze play, one the Palestinians are rejecting — as they have with better peace plans in the past. 

But this time, their obstinance may leave them isolated in much of the Arab world. 

This is unlike — let’s call it the Old Mideast — where the Arab nations foaming with homicidal hatred for Israel attacked with the stated goal of “Driving the Jews into the sea.” That was the goal in 1948, after Israel declared independence and established the world’s only Jewish state after an absence of 2,000 years.

Israel was attacked by five Arab nations with overwhelming superiority in manpower and arms. But — this time — the would-be murderers faced armed Jews, most of whom survived the Holocaust and for them “never again” started right there.

Israel prevailed, as it did in the Six Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973.)

This is one reason we should favor Israel: It is a bastion of democracy in a sea of hate.

Another reason we should support Israel is what I just said — it is, like us, a democracy, and shares Western values. 

It is a military, intelligence and security asset, an unquestioned ally in a dodgy area of the world, where friendship is a commodity that is bought and sold. 

There have been many peace offers in the past, stretching back 80 years, always rejected by the Palestinians. 

Their usual M.O. is to start a war, lose the war and then demand anything they lost must be returned as a precondition to peace. That game no longer works. 

There is a difference now. In the New Mideast, several Arab states, instead of promising to annihilate Israel, are secretly friendly. These include Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. 

They may not come forward and publicly push the Palestinians, being as Palestinians have the sympathy of the Arab masses, but the Arab rulers can give some brotherly advice to the Palestinians and urge them to stop missing opportunities and to accept the best offer they are likely to get.

Like every other peace proposal, this is a long shot, but what if by some miracle, it works?

What could be more surreal, actual peace  coming from two leaders deeply immersed in scandal? 

24 thoughts on “Why Palestinians should say yes”

  1. How can Israel ever ‘negotiate’ with people who refuse to accept that Israel even exists? In fact, there are NO Arab maps that even show Israel as being a part of the Middle East. And even if a deal with the so-called Palestinians is made, how can Israel ever trust the people who signed the treaty to be willing to really live up to it? Think of all the treaties of the past signed in ‘good faith’: Hitler’s pact with Stalin; Neville Chamberlain’s pact with Hitler (“Peace in our time”); et cetera, ad nauseum. Israel’s very survival is at stake.

  2. HAPPY WEDNESDAY !!!
    Pallie,
    How surreal ! A Cheltenham boy and a New York kid grow up to be the leaders of their country.
    In spite of Vince “Pessimist” Benedict’s negativity, us optimists will keep trying, not only to make America great again, but lift up the world to the greatness that it should be .
    Tony
    P.S.
    have fun tomorrow. (sic) “I’ll keep an eye out for ya”

    1. Dear Mr. Clark: I consider myself a realist, not a pessimist. And it isn’t ‘negativity’ to remind ourselves of how many times we have burned ourselves, yet we still keep touching the hot stove. The Israelis live the saying ‘sic vis pacem, parabellum.’ They aren’t pessimists; they are realists. And so am I.

      1. HAPPY SATURDAY !!!
        Dear Mr. Benedict: Don’t know why you insist on formalities with me. I don’t believe that you are formal with anyone else. (probably something I said)
        Your use of old Latin phrases break up the old American phrases. That makes us both old enough to remember when they were knew.
        You changed. Go back and look at your replys. When responding to me “you” were the pessimist and “I” were the optimist. And that would explain why I was out today, walking through Chester County, getting signatures on a petition to have a Republican challenge a sitting Democrat for the position of Representative in the General Assembly.
        Tony

        1. Tony: I become informal only where someone asks me to be so, as you have. I find today’s lack of formality to be, well, rude. Such as when I receive a call from a telemarketer and they say, “Hi, Vince.” I usually ask, “Do I know you?” When they reply in the negative I then ask them to call me Mr. Benedict. Petty, I know, but it puts the telemarketers off their game and that is always fun. Anyway, there are times when I am optimistic and others when I am pessimistic. Depends on the topic. E.g., I am wildly optimistic the Mr. Trump will be re-elected and that the Democrats will implode.

  3. Stu, your facts are on point—though cherry-picked—but you’re conclusions are absurd. This “deal” is nothing more than a massive swindle.

    And before you accuse me of being an anti-Semite who hates Israel, please know that I’m Jewish myself, and grew up in Rehovot. In fact, one of my pals back then was Ellie Eban, Abba Eban’s son. And I can assure you that Abba Eban himself would have rejected this dreck.

    Respectfully.

    1. You have no way of knowing how Eban would feel in 2020. It is a bad deal. They had a great deal in 2000 and said no, as they always do. So now the deals get worse. Maybe that tactic will wake them up.

      1. Yes, the Clinton 2000 deal was an opportunity lost. Arafat caved to threats from extremists in Gaza.

        But this “deal” is no deal at all. It’s a ruse. Israel is telling the Palestinians that if they accept their terms, and move a large part of their population out to the god-forsaken Western Negev, they’ll cease building new settlements in the West Bank… FOR FOUR YEARS!

        At which time they will recommence stealing Arab-owned lands. Some of this families have been farming there for centuries. Many proudly display their property deeds issued by the Ottoman Empire.

        I’m all for the further existence of Israel. But this policy of barbarism is vulgar. And yes, Abba Eban would be repulsed by it. I remember him vividly.

  4. Why does this Christian support Israel?
    I believe in supporting America’s allies. I support countries that share our common moral values. And, unlike the Left, I have moral problems with Islamization, not with Zionism. However, the primary reason virtually every Israel-supporting Christian gives is the biblical verse from Genesis in which God says to Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.”
    The country that has most blessed Israel and the Jews is America. No country in the modern era has treated its Jews as well as America has. No country has stood by Israel as much as America has. And America has been almost uniquely blessed.

    1. “No country in the modern era has treated its Jews as well as America has.”

      I’ve got news for you David. Take it from this Jew: There’s more anti-Semitism here, than in much of the world, including so-called anti-Israel countries. I’ve been there. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. And the hatred here in the U.S. now is off the charts for Jews. Mostly coming from the right. Regardless of what Fox News would have you believe.

      1. Lol! Yeah, people like me just fine. How splendid that you’ve chosen to drag your own blog down to personal insult level.

        1. I don’t know where you are finding “personal insult,” as opposed to confronting your weird ideas, but if you feel insulted, find a safe space somewhere else. You won’t find a pacifier here.

          1. So I see. Nor will I find honesty here.

            We both know which insult I’m referring to, but only one of us defines it as such.

  5. barely HAPPY WEDNESDAY !!!
    Bruce reminds me of a guy that I met today at my buddy’s shop. Very antagonistic. The T.V. was on FOX, that got a lot of nasty comments from the man. I tried to ignore him. (don’t know his name, don’t want to) I got sucked in. He asked me about my military service and took a shot at that. Surprisingly, I stayed calm. “Ya know, you started with a lousy altitude and then it very quickly went down hill . There’s no having a conversation with you.” After he left, my buddy told me that he’s always like that. I said that there is no need to be that angry at the world, that you can’t shut up for a second and listen to an reply, whether it be pro or con.
    As my wife says, “must be a democrat.”
    Hope your surgery goes as well, if not better than the last one. MAKE SURE THAT THEY WORK ON THE BAD EYE !
    Tony

  6. Not taking sides, but must agree that you (Stu) did, in fact, level a personal insult at Bruce, to wit:

    Stu Bykofsky says:
    January 29, 2020 at 4:26 pm

    Thank you and Bruce is wrong. I suspect people don’t like HIM and he mistakes that for anti-Semitism.

  7. After reading David Lynch’s comments two days ago, for me, anything further I would say would be redundant. He was spot-on. Now that I’ve reread them, I should have said “Spot-on David.”

  8. barely HAPPY SATURDAY !!!
    after the smoke clears from this latest debate, I’ll quote “Monty Python”>
    …….and now for something completely different…..

    For a little more humor in life, try reading Babylon Bee and The Patriot Post !
    go eagles………………
    Tony

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