Well, there’s no two ways about it; IJN readers overwhelmingly believe that Israel is correct to make recognition of its Jewish identity a deal breaker. “Without it,” you said, “peace doesn’t stand a chance.”
You were answering our poll, “Should recognition of Israel as a Jewish state be a deal breaker?” which we just closed earlier this week. The context: The latest round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Netanyahu insisted that Abbas recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and Abbas, depending on the day or interview, either prevaricated or flat-out refused.
Was the Israeli leadership right in making this issue of Jewish identity so pivotal? Abbas argued that by signing the Oslo agreements, the Palestinian side de facto recognizes Israel’s independent identity – implying, without explicitly stating – Jewish identity.
But like many commentators, 61% of IJN readers feel that explicit acknowledgement is in fact necessary for a successful agreement. Why?
It all boils to the Palestinian right of return, which states that any male Palestinian or male descendant of a Palestinian, whether living as a refugee or resettled as a citizen of a foreign country, has the right to ‘return’ to his ‘homeland’. Should the individual ‘Palestinian’ (the quote marks are because this refers to Palestinians that are citizens of other countries, such as the US or Canada) choose not to ‘return,’ Israel is expected to compensate. And when we say return, we don’t mean to a future Palestinian state, but to the place from where the person’s ancestors once lived, such as for example, Jaffa, Haifa, Acre, i.e. places within the State of Israel, within 1967 borders.
So recognition of Israel as a fundamentally Jewish state is far deeper than mere words; it impacts policy. Perhaps if Abbas and Co. were prepared to renounce the right to return, Netanyahu and Israel supporters worldwide wouldn’t be so adamant about this recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Did you have this reason in mind when you said that “Without this recognition peace doesn’t stand or chance?” Other reasons IJN readers gave in answer to “Should recognition of Israel as a Jewish state be a deal breaker?” were “Yes, the principle of Zionism must be recognized” (11%). Another 8.3% of you were very honest when you answered: “I’m not sure, but probably not” and 11% of IJN readers say that a peace agreement is most important, regardless of whether the Palestinian side recognizes Israel as a Jewish state.
With news of a Hamas/Fatah reconciliation, the likelihood of peace is looking smaller and smaller, but a Palestinian Authority reconciliation with a group that openly denies Israel’s right to exist seems to highlight why Israel is sticking to its guns when it some to recognition of its Jewish identity.
Recommended reading:
- Eliot Abrams, Abbas and the Right of Return will Defeat Kerry (Council on Foreign Relations). In speeches Abbas makes inside Palestine, he presents a position incompatible with any potential agreement.
- Jonathan Tobin, At the Heart of the Jewish State Issue (Commentary). Palestinian intransigence reflect a lack of will for a real peace.
- Yaacov Amidror, Recognition of Jewish Israel is Critical for Palestinians (Begin-Sadat Research Center). Recognition is necessary so that Palestinians understand what the end game is and begin to build their society around the reality of a Jewish neighbor.
