THE
CURRENT CONFLICT
August 2002
There
is no justification for terrorism
Israel has the right and obligation
to defend itself and its citizens. There is no moral equivalency between Israel's
defensive military actions and a Palestinian suicide bomber blowing up a pizza
restaurant or supermarket or bus or Passover Seder. The establishment of a Palestinian
state, a goal recognized and accepted by the Israeli government, cannot justify
the actions of Palestinian terrorists, sanctioned and supported by the Palestinian
leadership and other Arab leaders.
Palestinian
Intentions and Israel's Response
While Yasser Arafat speaks to the Western
media in English about a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza, he continues
to talk to his own people in Arabic about the liberation of all of Palestine.
There is no question about what Palestinian intentions are - official Palestinian
web sites show maps of "Palestine" that show the entire State of Israel
as Palestine. Despite calls by the international community and in violation of
previously signed agreements, Arafat has failed to stop terrorists operating from
territory under his jurisdiction. Indeed, organizations directly under his control,
such as the al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades, have become the principal agents of violence
against Israel. Israel was left with no choice but to take the steps necessary
to protect itself from the terrorist infrastructure sheltered and supported by
the Palestinian Authority.
The context of "occupation"
In 1947, the United Nations voted on a plan to divide the British mandate in Palestine
into two states - one Jewish and one Arab. Israeli leadership accepted the partition,
but Arab leaders did not. When Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948,
the Arab nations attacked. Israel eventually won its war of independence and established
a state. Jordan and Egypt controlled the West Bank and Gaza (respectively), including
the Palestinian refugee populations that had fled Israel during the war. From
1948 through 1967, neither Jordan nor Egypt made any efforts to integrate the
refugee population or assist them in developing an infrastructure. In defending
itself in 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel took control of the West Bank,
Gaza, and the Sinai Peninsula, with the intention of the returning the land in
exchange for peace.
What
will Israel do for peace?
As part of the 1979 peace agreement with Egypt,
Israel returned the Sinai and removed Jewish settlements that had been established
there. As a result of the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, 98% of Palestinians were
put under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. We also know that Israel
- its leaders and its people - want peace and are prepared to make painful compromises
to achieve it. We saw this most recently at Camp David in July 2000. PLO Chairman
Yasser Arafat rejected that offer, made no counter-proposal, and initiated the
wave of violence that has been raging for 22 months. The essential problem lies
with the leaders of the Palestinians and those Arab states that still deny Israel's
legitimacy as a Jewish state; that still support and engage in terrorism (the
Foreign Ministers of the Arab League only two weeks ago refused to identify suicide
bombings against Israel as terrorism.)
U.S.
Policy on the Middleast
President Bush has asserted the need for the
Palestinian people to elect new leaders "not compromised by terror."
Future negotiations will be based on a performance-based diplomacy rather than
a timeline-focused process.
The United States can no longer work with Arafat.
" . . . the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 will be ended through a
settlement negotiated between the parties, based on U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338,
with Israeli withdrawal to secure and recognized borders." This is not a
demand that Israel withdraw to pre-1967 borders. When borders are decided on by
the parties, the occupation will, by definition, end. This will be the case even
if that means that by agreement some of the land will be annexed to Israel, and
some of the Palestinians living there will become Israeli citizens. Moreover,
U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338 clearly do not require Israel to withdraw to the
1967 borders, but rather to "secure and recognized borders."
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