Peace Process Sputters at Starting Line. By Walter Russell Mead. Via Meadia, January 31, 2013.
Mead:
And so
we are back to square one. The Palestinians are bitterly divided. One camp
would like to sign an agreement with Israel but is too weak to enforce it and
too divided, probably, to accept any agreement that Israel, even with its arms
being twisted by the United States, would accept. The other group remains
committed to the “one state, no Jews” formula for abolishing Israel, expelling
almost all the Jews, and re-establishing Palestine in all its glory.
Israelis
who don’t want a two state solution (at least not with a viable Palestinian
state) can use the resulting stalemate to press for their own goals of more
Israeli settlements. The substantial majority of Israelis who want a two state
solution (with some caveats) don’t have much of an agenda to push in the absence
of of a strong Palestinian partner who is both willing to accept and able to
deliver a compromise peace.
And so
it goes. As best we can tell, peace is not at hand.
