Negotiating in the souk

Submitted by DaveP (United Kingdom), May 30, 2011 at 20:10

Israel should know by now, that it is of value to America only as long as it has something to give. The Islamic/Arab world knows that the only way they can get Israel to give anything is by pressuring America or Europe to pressure Israel. Therefore the less Israel is able to give the less value it has for America or Europe. From which it follows that America will have less influence in the Arab/Muslim world if it pressures Israel to give and give.

Note that the EU gives huge amounts of money to the Palestinians but has virtually no influence with them because the EU has no influence with Israel.

Ergo, Israel should give nothing, while making maximum but quasi-reasonable demands from America, Europe and the Arabs, and then we have a game plan for eventual peace – maybe. But even if that did not happen, Israel will not have lost any territory - in Israel's case all territory is strategic, as it is very small. As for Jerusalem - if Israel is stupid enough to give parts of it, then it will have shown the Muslim world that Israel does not care even for its historic capitol. The result will be an invigorating of the Jihad after a period of Hudna.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".