Damascus Gate

“We must reach an agreement with the Palestinians, the essence of which is that we shall actually withdraw from almost all the territories, if not from all the territories.”  -   Ehud Olmert

For years Israel has followed the policy of “creating facts on the ground”.  They have built settlements in the West Bank with utter disregard for the rights of the Palestinians who’s land they confiscate despite continued international condemnation.  Over the years, they have succeded in filling the West Bank with roads, settlements, settlers, walls, and fences to the point that the “facts” have certainly been created.  Mission accomplished?  It appears not.  The facts may have been created but to say that Israel is ready to become a respected nation on the world scene has never been farther from the truth.

The recent comments by Ehud Olmert testify to the fact that Israel is at a crossroads.  Olmert is one of a growing number of Israelis that have realized that providing a state for the Palestinians is paramount to Israel’s continued existance as a Jewish state based on the following logical statements:

1.  A one-state solutions where every citizen has equal rights would necessarily lead to the undoing of the state of Israel.

2.  Therefore, a two-state solution must be found.

3.  Continued settlement building, wall construction, and land confiscation are increasingly making a two-state solution impossible.

A one-state solution would lead to the undoing if Israel because in the very near future, Palestinians will outnumber Jews within the country based on their larger growth rate.  The establishment of a Jewish Homeland was the single goal of the Zionist movement and a single state for all of its citizens instead of for Jews only in historic Palestine is an idea that is very unpopular with most Israelis.  In effect, Israel would cease to exist.

The closest the two sides have come to a two-state solutin was in 2000 when Ehud Barak and Yasir Arafat met at Camp David.  The typical western analysis of the summit says that Barak offered Arafat a generous 92% of the Occupied Territories.  Arafat refused the “generous” offer and is blamed for the failure of the Camp David Summit.  In reality, the offer was anything but generous.  The land that Barak offered was crisscrossed by Israeli roads and settlements and divided into small “cantons”.  Israel reserved the right to make military incursions on large areas of the Palestinian territories and the right of return for the refugees was not granted.  There is no way that the Israeli offer could be considered a viable state.

Things are coming to a head.  With every day that passes, every settlement housing unit that is built, every settler that moves into the West Bank, and every mile of wall that is erected, the prospect of a Palestinian state alongside Israel becomes more and more impossible.  With this in mind, and considering the one-state alternative, it’s no wonder that Olmert is saying the things he is saying.

In closing, the creation of facts on the ground may soon be seen as a failed policy and it may change.  If a two-state solutions becomes impossible (as it may have already become), Israel has some very difficult decisions to make regarding its own survival.  They way they answer these questions will determine whether Israel will join the rest of the world of legitimate nations or whether they will remain a rogue country, condemned on the world stage.

Click here to read a list of the recent statements make by Ehud Olmert

Click here to read an accurate account of the Camp David Summit of 2000