This is Israel's Last Chance

People around the world have been riveted to the internal Palestinian strife since the manure finally hit the fan about two weeks ago. Critics and news anchor are speculating, prophesizing, and postulating on the demise of the two state solution, the end of Palestine as we know it, and the end to all chance of peace.

However, peace has never been in the hands of the Palestinians, it has always been controlled by Israel. At any point in time, Israel could make a momentous decision to leave the settlements, tear down the portions of the wall built inside the 1967 green line, compensate those whose livelihoods were destroyed as a result, remove the roadblocks and checkpoints, and embrace peace as a true partner.

We all know that Israel has never chosen to make that decision. For all its public proclamations for seeking peace, wanting to live side by side with good neighbors, and becoming a recognized nation by it's neighbors in it's neighborhood, has until very recently continued its policy of extra-judicial assassinations, abductions, torture, invasions and abuses. Israel has always had the "militants" to blame. They could always point to some action and convince the world that they are the victims. Some rocket attack, somebody shooting a gun at settlers, some tunnel found somewhere, some cache of small arms, anything to continue to use as an excuse. With any lame excuse and the backing of the United States, Israel could plan on never returning any land, never having to live up to a peace agreement, never tearing down the wall and never having to accept a Palestinian state.

That is until two weeks ago.

Prior to the Palestinian meltdown, the heat was already on Israel. With the public boycotts of Israel, with the first protest ever on behalf of the Palestinians, in the US, which happened in June of this year, with international pressure to remove economic sanctions, it already appeared as though the world had made a decision, to treat Israel as the pariah nation it is. Since the collapse of the Palestinian government and the reformation of a non-terror aligned government, Israel is now on the front burner, the heat is on high, and the whole world is watching. For years Israel has stated that if it had a partner in peace, there would be peace. If the terror cells were disarmed and reigned in, it would stop its incursions. If terror attacks ceased, then roadblocks and checkpoints would be removed. It seems the Palestinians are living up to their part of the bargain, but is Israel?

For the first time since 2000, I searched online for Israeli atrocities that occurred over the weekend. I went to my usual sites, looked around, tried to find out what the Israeli army did over the weekend. Typically, I can pick or choose through about 10 incursions, 30 or so deaths, another 30- 50 abductions, and about a dozen women and children killed. So I must say I was amazed by the fact that the only thing I could find was two Palestinians abducted out of Hebron over the weekend. This is a location where Israeli soldiers maintain a presence of about 1000 soldiers at all times protecting about 700 settlers. Is Israel finally taking baby steps towards peace? I guess when the settlers leave, the wall comes down and the abductions cease completely, we will know.

Israel is between a rock and a hard place, and this is its last chance, here are their options.

Option 1:

Support Abbas, create a Palestinian state in the West Bank with inclusion of Gaza contingent on Abbas being able to gain control of the area. This will require a full COORDINATED departure from pre-67 borders. Not like the cut and run tactics they chose to use in Gaza that ended up putting in to power a threat to their stability. Israel needs to go from being the fox in the hen house to a partner in peace. Israeli soldiers will have to go from handing stones to kids to throw at Palestinians, to actually standing in front of those stones so they don't hit Palestinians. Israeli soldiers will have to go from beating old ladies to helping them cross the street. Instead of using bulldozers to destroy Palestinian homes, they will need to use them to clear roads. Instead of harassing women, soldiers will have to help Palestinian mothers carry groceries home from the store. This is the mentality shift that needs to take place, if Israel expects the people in the West Bank to accept that they want peace after all the abuses and atrocities Israel has committed over the past 40 years. However, Israel will have peace, not only with the Palestinians, but the majority of its Arab neighbors, who have signed on to the Arab Peace Plan. This is something Israel has coveted for decades and now it is within it's reach, if it can make the tough decisions.

Option 2:

Continue it's abductions, assassinations, checkpoints, roadblocks, abuses, atrocities and inhumane treatment of the Palestinians. This will only weaken the existing government, restrict its ability to reign in armed militias, develop more hatred and animosity towards the Israeli's and strengthen other, more militant groups in the area. Whether it be Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad or some new militant group, it will only lead to additional destabilization of the region. Of course, Israel has always wanted the region to be destabilized, so it can use brutality to insure its security. In such a scenario, the government of Abbas would fall, another more militant group would gain power and the West Bank, like Gaza, will turn into a firing range with missiles in one direction and artillery, helicopter gunships and jet fighters, coming from the other. In addition, as the technology increases within the Palestinian territories, as Iran gets a stronger grip on the area, the Qassam rockets will turn into Katuysha rockets. Ranges will increase, accuracy will increase and rockets will be fired from Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. Israeli forces could not and can not stop rocket attacks from any of these areas. They couldn't do it during the Lebanon war, they can't do it now from Gaza and if the West Bank was added to that, there is not much of Israel left that could not be hit from rocket fire, including Tel Aviv. A grim future for Israel, that is for sure.

Those are Israel's options. There are no other possible outcomes. At this point in time, the Palestinians want peace, a state, and a future or like in Gaza they will turn to the powers that seem to be working in that direction by using terror as a weapon. The time has come for Israel to make a decision. Any half-measures, lagging, wasting time, or indecision on the part of the Israeli's at this juncture, will ensure that option 2 is initiated. Time is of the essence for the Israeli's and while they sit and debate, while they chart a course of action, while they meet with country after country, the cock is ticking. The resolution is as clear as it has been for decades, and Israel has only muddied the waters by increasing settlers, settlements, constructing the wall, and annexing land. Had they abided by UN resolution and the International Court of Justice, like every respectable country in the world, they wouldn't have to make these hard choices. They made their own grave by violating International law, and now they are going to have to live with the dismantling of their poor decisions.

I only hope that the government of Israel will make the right choices for their own people, for their own benefit and for the benefit of stability of the region. There are hard decisions to be made, and they will have to be made. There will be no next time, no other chance, no time better than now. Whether Israel wants to admit it, whether they want to act on it, whether they wish to embrace it or not, this is Israel's last chance.