The Vision
President Bush, speaking in Brussels, hit mostly high notes on the subject of Israel and its neighbors:
The Palestinian people deserve a government that is representative, honest and peaceful. The people of Israel need an end to terror and a reliable, steadfast partner for peace. And the world must not rest until there is a just and lasting resolution to this conflict. All the parties have responsibilities to meet.
President Bush, speaking in Brussels, hit mostly high notes on the subject of Israel and its neighbors:The Palestinian people deserve a government that is representative, honest and peaceful. The people of Israel need an end to terror and a reliable, steadfast partner for peace. And the world must not rest until there is a just and lasting resolution to this conflict. All the parties have responsibilities to meet.
Arab states must end incitement in their own media, cut off public and private funding for terrorism, stop their support for extremist education, and establish normal relations with Israel.
Palestinian leaders must confront and dismantle terrorist groups, fight corruption, encourage free enterprise, and rest true authority with the people. Only a democracy can serve the hopes of Palestinians and make Israel secure and raise the flag of a free Palestine.
A successful Palestinian democracy should be Israel’s top goal as well. So Israel must freeze settlement activity, help Palestinians build a thriving economy, and ensure that a new Palestinian state is truly viable, with contiguous territory on the West Bank. A state of scattered territories will not work.
That he called on the Arab states to establish relations with Israel is outstanding. There can be no settlement of the “Palestinian-Israeli” conflict without a settlement of the larger “Arab-Israel” conflict, ginned for years by Arab rejection of the legitimacy of Israel.
Calling for democracy in a future Palestinian state is excellent, even if we don’t think a Palestinian state is a good idea on its face. Nothing could be worse than agreeing to the establishment of another dictatorial, terrorism-sponsoring Arab kleptocracy.
But visionary as the President was in those areas, he missed the mark calling for a “settlement freeze” by Israel and “contiguous territory” for the Palestinians on the West Bank. “Settlements” are nothing more than houses built in disputed territory – which, for many Palestinians, makes houses in Tel Aviv “settlements.” “Freezing” them is just a way of keeping Jews out of places some people don’t want more Jews or any Jews at all.
We object on those grounds alone. But beyond that, Prime Minister Sharon has already outstripped Mr. Bush – while he is repeating yesterday’s call for a “settlement freeze,” Israel is in the dismantlement mode. For better or worse, Israel is creating contiguous territory on the West Bank by announcing its withdrawal from four northern towns.
Maybe we should overlook the discordant note in a speech that nailed Russia, Iran and Syria to the wall for repression, while insisting that the Palestinians learn lessons of democracy in classes to be run by the British. But we can’t.
By offering a false symmetry of “requirements for peace,” to be taken by all the partners, the President failed to acknowledge the extraordinary steps Israel has already taken – at extraordinary risk. Maybe he thought he was being “fair,” but it strikes us as lacking in the truthfulness that has been the hallmark of his Middle East diplomacy.