Hope is not enough

Submitted by yonatan silverman (Israel), May 3, 2011 at 12:17

Prof. Pipes says he hopes Israel is prepared to contend with the political offensive the Palestinians are concocting in September in the UN. I live in Israel and for the last month I have been trying to determine what the government is going to do and although there is some evidence the government is concocting its own counter attack against the Palestinian statehood threat - there is more uncertainty than certainty I'm afraid,

Of course the recent reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah also now is a focal point of the Palestinian machinations. But apparently most Israeli experts have no belief in this Hamas Fatah agreement, They believe it has no longevity. The threat is indeed that the Palestinians have the votes in the UN General Assembly to achieve a majority recognition of Palestinian statehood in 1967 (Auschwitz) borders. They will try for Security Council recognition first but presumably the US will veto this.

Then the threat is that the Palestinians will invoke UNGA resolution 377 which gives the GA resolutions teeth if the UNSC fails to decide an issue of vital importance. It is an intricate problem. I do not understand why the government of Israel has not been aggressively countering the Palestinian threat which they have been organizing and developing for 2 years. Now the clock is ticking, In my view stern measures will be needed to combat and undermine creation of an independent Palestinian state in Auschwitz borders. A suggestion was raised already to suspend tax payments to the Palestinian Authority. But the decision has still not been made.

There is talk in the Knesset of annexing the Jewish settlements and turning them into Israeli territory. I think this is a positive move. I personally proposed prohibiting Palestinians from studying in our institutes of hgher learning. They must not eat their cake and have it too. Surely there are other painful punishing measures Israel can take against the Palestinians if and when they achieve recognition of an independent state. These things must be done with determination. The threat of recognition of a Palestinian state in September is the most hostile Palestinian move possible. I believe it is their third Intifada. I also call it Diplomatic Terrorism. I have read things that predict if the Palestinians carry out their UN scheme it will lead to war.

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