Geography and demography now trump democracy in Israel. The country pays lip service to the two-state solution while steadily appropriating the land it wants in the occupied territories.
Abbas sits atop a newly invigorated Palestinian Authority; the West Bank is completely secure. They want peace but will adopt a one-state solution if Netanyahu turns his back on Palestinian progress. Israel must act now.
The way forward is to concentrate on solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which, because the many problems of the region are so interlinked, can create, in turn, momentum for dealing with the other regional disputes that feed it.
Criticize Abbas as much as you want for his tactics or his selectivity
in emphasizing some facts rather than others. But some of the important
things he says are simply undeniable.
For many, Israel’s founding is shrouded in mysticism. But there is a battle raging among the historians of the Holy Land. The current stalemate is a story of bad actions on both sides. Beware those who rewrite narratives.
