If one takes Gary Rosenblatt’s view (Editor’s column, July 26) that the “Palestinian problem is not going away” and “if two-state solution fails, no good options remain”, then Israel should just capitulate now. There is no need for nine months or nine hours of negotiation. Israel should just agree to all the Palestinian demands now.
President John F. Kennedy said, “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.” Rosenblatt is recommending Israel negotiate out of fear that a Palestinian state is a better solution than the status quo. No one knows with absolute certainty whether a Palestinian state will be a terrorist state, but neither does anyone know it won’t be. We know Israel gave up Gaza, and within months Hamas ruled.
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain believed appeasement would lead to “peace in our time.” Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin believed that appeasing [PLO Leader Yasser] Arafat would lead to peace for Israel. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon believed giving up Gaza would bring peace to Israel’s southern border. The peace these dreamers envisioned turned into nightmares.
These dreamers, not the settlers, are the new messianic Jews. They foolishly believe they can appease terrorists and that with a state of their own the Palestinians will risk their lives fighting terrorists in their midst. These dreamers are so confident, so messianic in their own views they listen only to themselves. They are not prophets. They are fools and deceivers.
Silver Spring, Md.
