Accountability?
David Lewis used to say that a cold peace is better than no peace. He would say this when discussing Israel’s peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.
Today, in the context of Israel’s security, a long-term problem continues.
While Israel and Egypt are “closer” than they’ve ever been, kicking the terrorist can down the road is a large problem. The Egyptians are currently brokering talks between Palestinian terror entities Fatah and Hamas. The view is that the ongoing turf war between the two in the Gaza Strip benefits no one.
Hamas of course is a terror organization wholly dedicated to Israel’s destruction. Fatah is from the old PLO and is the “political wing” for that terror group.
Here’s the point: sweeping unpleasant things under the rug—in this case calls for genocide against Israel—both compounds and lengthens the problem. According to the Time of Israel:
“Reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah are for now ignoring the thorny issue of the future of the terror group’s military wing and weaponry, and with the help of Egypt are concentrating first on asserting the Palestinian Authority’s power in the Gaza Strip, including control over the border with Egypt, according to statements by officials and Arabic media reports.”
On the surface, it seems good that Egypt is behind these talks:
“Egyptian President Abdel Fattah
Do you see what the long view is here? “A just peace between Palestinian and Israeli sides.”
Sadly, the decades-long delusion persists with the Americans. The Trump administration will sponsor a peace summit.
And there are layers to this story, all involving marginalizing Israel. There is currently a water and electricity shortage in the Gaza Strip, the territory vacated entirely by the Israelis in 2005.
Israel is being blamed, incredibly, for these shortages, even though Israel has not been there in a dozen years! PA terror chief/”president” Mahmoud Abbas recently lowered funding to the Strip by 22 percent, resulting in the electricity rationing, in order to “coerce” Hamas into ceding power.
So a Palestinian problem, continued by the Palestinians, is blamed on the Israelis. This is but one reason the ill-conceived peace summits will always end in failure.
One wonders if/when Trump will return to his early assessments of the Arab-Israeli conflict and do what needs to be done. Evidently, his top advisors and cabinet ministers advocate continuing the failed policies of the past.
In that way, the Egyptian effort is doomed to failure. Much better to bite the bullet now and dismantle Hamas, and then reform or dismantle PA/Fatah.
Only then will the Palestinians even begin the process of accepting Israel. Even that would take generations.