It’s not unusual for the world community to talk about the Israel-Palestinian conflict in exceptional terms. Regional scholar William Quandt calls it “the world’s most difficult conflict,” a sentiment echoed in the disproportionate hours spent covering it in international media. Every event in the conflict and the peace process seems to take on existential meaning: every new development is a crossroads. Because things generally don’t change much, this line of argument is difficult to buy.But on rare occasions, it’s true. I submit that the recent expiration of the West Bank settlement construction freeze is such an occasion, a moment in the Israel-Palestine peace process that truly is a pivotal crossroads. Put bluntly, the future of Israel’s legitimacy as the Jewish state depends upon its willingness to put aside settlement construction in the interest of peace.
On Monday, the ten-month moratorium on settlement construction, to which Israel’s government officially agreed, was due to expire. The Jewish state had two options: either play hardball and adhere to the freeze literally (10 months exactly), or bet on the power of good will and call for an extended freeze. Within hours of the expiration, construction had resumed. On the heels of this news, PA President Mahmoud Abbas threatened that direct talks would end because of Israel’s insistence on resuming construction.
Abbas might very well now be pronouncing the talks dead in order distract blame from the Palestinian side. Right or wrong, though, it’s his attribution of guilt that will be remembered in the history books if talks fall through now. In the midst of public relations woes, the growth of the Palestinian demographic, and the increasing segregation of Jews from Palestinians in the West Bank, Israel cannot afford another failure.
Fundamentally, if Israel continues to build without restrictions in occupied territory, it casts doubt on the state’s commitment to ending the occupation. The Jewish state’s international legitimacy will continue to plummet, and the lack of defined borders between the two polities will probably enable Palestinians to start claiming sovereignty over parts of Israel proper. After all, if Israel occupies an Arab majority in Hebron, who’s to say it’s not occupying an Arab majority in Nazareth?
With demographics and the increasing weight of global sympathy pushing the Palestinian cause ahead, this situation could spell the end of the Zionist dream – which by definition prefers a territorially-limited Jewish democracy to a bigger state whose Jewish identity is in question. If Israel allows construction to continue throughout West Bank settlements, it will have to live with this dangerous existential uncertainty.
The alternative allows Israel more room to breathe, and in turn saves the near-term prospects for peace. An extension of the freeze would demonstrate Israel’s commitment to final borders – an issue that Israel gains most from by addressing soon. Grudgingly, Palestinian realists understand that well-rooted Jewish settlement blocs like Ariel, Ma’ale Adumim, and Gush Etzion simply cannot be uprooted: their population totals over 100,000, and they’re functional suburbs of Israel’s largest cities. Critically, they’re where nearly 80% of settlement construction is going on!
A temporary freeze would bring the Palestinian moderates to the table on Israel’s terms, probably forcing a concession that would incorporate these settlements into the Jewish state (where they’d be subject to no restrictions on growth). Insisting on maintaining construction in the other 20% risks jeopardizing the whole enterprise.
At this crossroads, Israel needs to make a painful, but manageable cut in order to enjoy the near-term and long-term rewards of a negotiated peace. The time – whatever Netanyahu or Abbas insists otherwise – is now.
The alternative allows Israel more room to breathe, and in turn saves the near-term prospects for peace. An extension of the freeze would demonstrate Israel’s commitment to final borders – an issue that Israel gains most from by addressing soon. Grudgingly, Palestinian realists understand that well-rooted Jewish settlement blocs like Ariel, Ma’ale Adumim, and Gush Etzion simply cannot be uprooted: their population totals over 100,000, and they’re functional suburbs of Israel’s largest cities. Critically, they’re where nearly 80% of settlement construction is going on!
A temporary freeze would bring the Palestinian moderates to the table on Israel’s terms, probably forcing a concession that would incorporate these settlements into the Jewish state (where they’d be subject to no restrictions on growth). Insisting on maintaining construction in the other 20% risks jeopardizing the whole enterprise.
At this crossroads, Israel needs to make a painful, but manageable cut in order to enjoy the near-term and long-term rewards of a negotiated peace. The time – whatever Netanyahu or Abbas insists otherwise – is now.
Photo credit: NYDailyNews.com
