Will Israel Evacuate the West Bank?

I received yesterday an excellent comment from "Anonymous" in response to "The New York Times Would 'Prod' Israel", and I would like to answer by way of a blog entry.

Anonymous wrote:

I believe "prod" as in "stimulate or persuade". I agree that acceptance is a pre-requisite, but look at the map of Israel's settlements 20 years ago and today. It makes it hard to argue against the idea that Israel's intention is to take over all of Palestine.

Thank you again, Anonymous. My response:

"Prod" as in "stimulate" or "persuade"? Perhaps. The Times could also have used "urge" or "encourage", but they didn't. Equally informative was the online publication yesterday of op-eds by Cohen and Goldstone, both known for their hostility toward Israel, without contrary opinion. I should note that I was subsequently informed by someone very senior at The Times that this occurred only online and that Cohen was not published in the print version (he only appeared in the International Herald Tribune).

More to the point, however, concerning an Israeli "takeover" of "all of Palestine":

- A majority of Israelis favor the evacuation of the settlements. The Jewish Quarter of the Old City, from which Jews were expelled in 1948, where centuries old synagogues were leveled to the ground in 1948, and home to the Wailing Wall which was off limits to Jews until 1967, is not going to be evacuated. Also, to evacuate the entranceway to Jerusalem is to create a sniper's alley that would isolate the city.

- All of Sinai, including all Israeli settlements, was evacuated by Prime Minister Begin of the Likud in exchange for peace with Egypt.

- Prime Minister Barak offered to evacuate all of Gaza and most of the West Bank (Arafat was offered Israeli land for "settlements" not part of the package) in exchange for peace. Arafat rejected the offer.

- Prime Minister Sharon of the Likud unilaterally evacuated Gaza and all its settlements. "In exchange", thousands of missiles, rockets and mortars were fired at civilian targets in Israel. This resulted in the closure of Israel to Gazan workers.

- Olmert again offered Abbas the West Bank in exchange for peace. Abbas refused.

Is Israel still ready to evacuate the West Bank in exchange for peace? I believe that Netanyahu is prepared to do this. I would note that Mike Oren, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., whom I know, is no right-winger and favors compromise; it is no accident that he was selected as ambassador. But first there must be acceptance by Fatah of Israel's right to exist.

One further word concerning "Palestine": In 1921, 77% of the Palestinian Mandate was given by Churchill to Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who became emir of Transjordan (today Jordan). I am not alluding to this fact in order to justify continued settlement of Jews in the West Bank; I strongly favor evacuation of the West Bank, including exchange of territories as necessary, provided the other side is willing to accept Israel's right to exist. I am saying that a majority of Jordan's population consists of Palestinians, and ultimately this problem will resurface. I still remember "Black September".

But let me take this a step further: I would allow the Arab villages in Israel, which border the Palestinian Authority, to hold referendums and decide whether they prefer to be annexed by the Palestinian Authority. Would they be willing to give up their civil liberties, political parties, prosperity, medical care, social security? I often have coffee with persons living in these villages and can conclusively predict the outcome of the vote.