To: George Papadopoulos who wrote (1472 ) 5/25/2001 12:26:11 PM From: Hawkmoon Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 23908 I do not think they do frankly. Who are you kidding?? War is bad for business, especially in Israel where military forces are required to be drawn heavily from civilian reserves. The Yom Kippur war of 1973 cost Israel the equivalent of one year's GDP, $7 Billion... It created tremendous inflation in the Israeli economy and the tax rate at one point climbed to 65% in order to pay for it all. Of course the Israelis want peace. If they didn't they would have kicked everyone's butt long ago. But if someone pushes me, I'll be d*mned if I'm going to sit there and continue to take it. I'm going to push back even harder.asking for something so unrealistic is hopeless As is the Palestinians asking for a removal of all settlements from the West Bank. Let's face some facts here... Israel still does not have a peace treaty with either Jordan or Syria. Jordan is HIGHLY susceptible to political subversion or outright invasion by Iraq. Thus, having a trip-wire string of settlements along the Jordan river and other strategic heights provides Israel the security they desire (because they aren't getting it right now)... And the Israelis have been trying to hammer out peace treaties with the Syrians for decades, all to no avail. And Syria was supporting the PLO and Hizbullah in Lebanon as they launched rocket attacks into Israel. I didn't see Israel launching rockets into Syria, except as a response to such attacks initiated against them. You hit me, I'm gonna hit you back even harder. You bring a knife, I'll bring a gun... You use artillery, I'll use bombs. And maybe someday you'll finally figure out there is no benefit in picking a fight with me. Palestinians get $75 million Because there is NO APPARATUS in place to receive and distribute aid. Money is just funneled into the PNA accounts and never accounted for. It's like when the IMF gave billions to the Russians and they quickly spirited it away into channel island bank accounts. EVEN ARAB NATIONS are no longer providing overt financial support because of the corruption of the Palestinian Authority leadership. Besides, were Arafat to submit to peace, the money would flow. But so long as their is violence and political unrest being incited by his people, no one's going to pour money down such a rat hole. The Israelis and Egyptians were given assistance in EXCHANGE FOR PEACE, not for continuing to fight with each other.As far as the Palestinians controlling their own destiny and territory I do not agree, they are economically dependent, Bingo!! And if you're living in a neighborhood where you are dependent upon your neighborhood landlord for your job, your electricity, and your sewage, are you going to start threatening his family and friends?? Not friggin' likely. The fact is that the Palestinians were getting a FAR BETTER DEAL than had ever been given them before under Jordanian rule. They have a better infrastructure, economic ties and greater employment opportunities than they ever had before, all built by the Israelis Jews. The Palestinians are "peeing in their own pool", because they have no regard for the fact that they are cutting off their noses to spite their face.. all in the name of "independence" which will never truly exist. They will ALWAYS be dependent upon others for economic assistance, and thus never truly independent. Hawk Hawk Wouldn't you?