Levite
Higher and Higher
Unsurprisingly, I disagree. What you are saying is entirely unrealistic.
While I agree that Jordan should have been the Palestinian state as intended by the division of the British Mandate, that didn't happen. While I agree that the West Bank should have been annexed in 1967, that didn't happen. It's too late to go back and try and change history. The moment when such an annexation might have been accepted by even a small part of the international community is long gone. And the Jordanians are not about to accommodate the original purpose of their country, whether that is just or not. Also, Israel has given its word, which should be honored.
But mostly, it is clear that there will never be peace without a Palestinian state. And Israel will never have the opportunity to maximize its productivity in trade with the international community as long as it is being constantly ostracized because of the lack of a Palestinian state. It's true that no small number of people are merely using that issue as an excuse for plain old anti-Semitism, but I think it would be much harder for governments and corporations to cave to such sentiments without the excuse. Moreover, Israel needs peace in order to focus on the real and pressing problems in Israeli society, that all too often get ignored or pushed under the rug in order to deal with the Palestinian issue. And most of all, Israelis need to be able to grow up in a world where they do not have to expect two to four years of mandatory military service after high school, and a lifetime of potential reservist duty.
At this point, it is irrelevant whether the actions of the Palestinians have indicated that they have any real right to a state, or whether their conduct in such a state would be just to Jews living under their rule. It is irrelevant that there was never any such thing as "the Palestinian people" until their political agitators made it up in the 1950s, or that there has never actually been a Palestinian state, or that they could've had such a state numerous times since the dissolution of the British Mandate and lost it through their own greed and lust for violence. They have made it clear that a state for them, in the West Bank and Gaza, is the blood price we must pay for peace. And in the end, it is more important to have a small Jewish State in peace than a large Jewish State in pieces. That is the precise reasoning that the World Zionist leaders came to in their willingness to accept the UN Partition Plan of 1947, which would have resulted in a smaller Jewish State than even the boundaries of Israel after the War of Independence. It still holds true.
I certainly do not suggest ceding anything to Hamas, or to any terrorist group. But the PA government, while corrupt and ineffective and problematic in other ways, is not a terrorist group: they have officially renounced terrorism and acknowledged Israel's right to exist. Even so, we should certainly ensure Hamas is removed from power, and get assurances from the PA that they will strongly curb Hamas and other terrorist groups before withdrawing from the West Bank. Nor should we remove the security fence. But once we have those assurances, and Hamas is removed from power, we should get down to the business of handing them their ill-deserved state, so we can get some peace and quiet.
We can't live in a world of "should've" and "it ought to be:" we have to live in the world as it is, even when the price of living in peace in that world is unfair and painful to pay.
