Personally, Mr. Lauder?

It pains us to take issue with Ronald Lauder because of his tremendous contributions to the Jewish people, uniquely in Europe and extensively in Israel. Yet, what was he thinking when he penned an essay in The New York Times criticizing Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu for not engaging in two-state negotiations with PA head Mahmoud Abbas? Because Abbas “personally” told Lauder he was ready for such negotiations, the fault must lay with Netanyahu, wrote Lauder. Lauder fell for the oldest Palestinian line in the book: Say one thing “personally,” privately; then act the very opposite way publicly. Sorry, Mr. Lauder, you were had — like so many before you, not least ex-PM Ehud Olmert, who already offered Abbas a state in 2008. Abbas rejected it.