Jordan, on behalf of the Palestinians, was scheduled to submit a resolution to the UN calling for the complete withdrawal of Israel from the West Bank by 2016.
Whether the resolution will pass was, as of press time, uncertain; and, if it passed, whether the US would veto it, was also uncertain. Our guess is that the US would veto it because it would not achieve Palestinian statehood via negotiations, which the US favors. Rightly so. Unilateral statehood, or statehood via resolution, would merely exacerbate the considerable tension that already exists between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors.
There are many other reasons why a UN resolution mandating total Israeli withdrawal is a bad idea.
First, it would contradict UN Resolution 242, the fundamental basis of Israeli-Palestinian peace, which calls for Israeli withdrawal from “territories,” not “the territories,” a very carefully crafted formulation going all the way back to 1967, long before any Israeli settlements existed in the West Bank. This formulation acknowledged the legitimate Israeli security concerns that only its permanent presence in parts of the West Bank could address.
Second, the Palestinian Authority does not represent the Palestinians in Gaza. So who would step into the vacuum on the West Bank in 2016? The resolution is a prescription for another Palestinian civil war, the PA vs. Hamas.
Third, such a civil war would call down a strong Israeli response. The resolution, if carried out, would spur war all around.
Fourth, such a resolution would play into the current, brutal rejection of negotiations now rife in the Middle East. From pogroms in Israel to mass murders in Pakistan, from beheadings in Iraq to civil war in Syria, the Middle East threatens to destabilize large parts of the world. A Palestinian renunciation of negotiation would only reinforce that.
Fifth, Egypt and Jordan reached peace agreements with Israel via negotiations. These agreements are stable. The Palestinians have rejected peace agreements with Israel in 2000, 2008 and 2013. To reward Palestinian intransigence could undermine the agreements with Egypt and Jordan. Hardly a good idea.
Sixth, anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hatred has grown all over Europe. Now is the time to strengthen security for these Jewish communities, not to strengthen those who hate them.
Copyright © 2014 by the Intermountain Jewish News
