Reply #3: It will take a LOT MORE than witholding financial aid [View All]

[Martin Eden]

Realistically, the 2-state solution to peace bewteen Israel and the Palestinians is even MORE DIFFICULT than is presented by the media.

Have you ever seen a map of the West Bank with all of its settlements and roads that are off-limits to Palestinians? Their proposed "state" is diced up beyond recognizion of any intact sovereign border. Setting aside the non-contiguence of the West Bank with the Gaza Strip, in order for the West Bank to become a sovereign state the Israelis would have to either abandon all those settlements and roads, or consent to Israelis living in a Palestinian state subject to Palestinian authority.

What in the history of the last 60 years would lead anyone to believe that is even remotely possible without some very drastic turn of events? Do you recall a few years ago when a small number of settlers were evictewd by the Israelis from an "illegal" outpost? The violent resistance to that minor evacuation is nothing compared to the upheaval that would accompany the removal of Israelis from all the settlements east of the wall they are constructing, let alone the 1967 boundary.

Surely our State Department and President Obama must be aware of this reality. Do they really expect to achieve any solution to this situation without a sea change in our policy towards israel? Would the mere witholding of financial aid (politically, a domestic near-impossibility) be enough without a concerted diplomatic effort to force Israel's hand?