Israelis Don’t Buy the ‘Peace Process’ Chatter

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But even more fatal to the “peace process” than a weak U.S. administration is the clear-eyed view of what is going on in Israel’s neighborhood. Even if Obama cannot, Israelis see that Iran and its allies are on the march in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen and eating the West’s lunch at the nuclear negotiations table. Israelis see after decades the utter failure of the basic Oslo Accords bargain — land for peace. Each withdrawal (Lebanon, Gaza) brought more wars and more death to Israel. Although the security wall ended suicide bombers from earlier intifadas, a third intifada is underway in which virtually anything (a car, a knife) is a weapon and nowhere is safe (a bus stop, a synagogue). There is a reason the left-wing peace movement in Israel died (and moved on to Europe and the American left wing): Virtually no one in Israel can honestly believe there is a peace to be had these days.

Jonathan Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies explains, “While a large majority of Israelis want peace with the Palestinians, an even larger majority understand that it won’t happen as long as Mahmoud Abbas is in charge.” He adds, “Unfortunately, they also know it won’t happen as long as Obama is president. He has lost the trust of Palestinians and Israelis, alike.”
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