PB, Zev speaks for me also.
The idea of deliberately wasting time trying to appease the unappeasable is nuts. It amounts to saying, why don't I spend six months hitting myself over the head, let's see what response that gets from the enemy?
As for it producing a mandate from the rest of the world: Ha! The rest of the world is always ready to point out the moral shortcomings of the Israelis, which are perfectly tolerable in every other country but somehow unbearable only in Israel. When Israel helps them by adopting a compromising or appeasing policy, the noise level goes up, not down. When Israel steadfastly refused to talk to the PLO, The Guardian did not run editorials saying "Israel Simply Has No Right to Exist". Only during the "peace process" did we see this editorial.
The Israeli plan, as far as I can see it, is to hang tough and hold on until a) the Palestinians give up on the intifada, b) the Palestinian come under new management, or c) the general situation on the ground changes. Then they will react accordingly. With the US poised to go into Iraq, they may not have all that long to wait for a new situation. |
