Reply #60: There Is Truth In What You Say, Sir [View All]

[The Magistrate]

Settlements did originate under a Labor government, and have increased under Labor as well as Likud. The circumstances were somewhat different: the triumphalism after '67 is no longer present, and the settlement movement no longer seems to enjoy its political popularity, which led later Labor leaders to hope to secure their right flank by catering to it.

It seems to me certain no Likud government would ever perform the necessary removals, while it is at least possible a Labor government, in coalition with center-left secular parties in the present circumstances, might.

We are in complete agreement that pressure from the United States is required in this question, and that it should be made clear from the United States that settlements, and territorial aggrandizement, must cease and be reversed. The monies contributed from the United States certainly provide a lever to achieve this, and ought to be used to that end. It would seem to me a much more useful political line for progressive persons to concentrate upon than some more dear to the most passionate, for it will meet with wide agreement, and little visceral resistance among people not strongly committed to either view.