It certainly turned out to be a blunder, but whether it had to turn out that way is a matter of speculation. Negotiating with Arafat, weak, corrupt, discredited, and utterly two-faced as he is, was a poor bet I grant you. Certainly without holding his feet to the fire about his obligations. If there had been another leader results might have been different. But there wasn't.
I don't think that any Palestinian leader would have been sunk by the Return issue -- some combination of full return to Palestine, limited return to Israel under cover of family reunification, reparations, and economic aid could have been worked out and declared a victory -- supposing of course that this other leader had prepared the ground for compromise, which Arafat of course never did.
I am coming to share your opinion about what is coming. World opinion is already against Israel, except for for America (not counting our State Dept of course). I think Israel will say, "Screw them! We'll be condemned no matter what we do; we might as well make sure that what we do enhances our security" |
