So far, those advocating great Israeli territorial concessions to the
Palestinians in order to bring peace have been proven wrong.

Despite Pundits, Netanyahu Wants Peace

Efraim Inbar
BESA Center Perspectives Papers No. 101, March 11, 2010
www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/perspectives101.html

EXECUTIVE SUMMERY: Israelis, as well as the current Netanyahu government,
deeply desire peace. Netanyahu expressed a willingness to reach a
territorial compromise through a two-state solution. Netanyahu's readiness
to compromise has been met by continued resistance from the Palestinians,
who have displayed a lack of political pragmatism that is a prerequisite for
reaching a compromise. It is wrong to blame Netanyahu for the current
political impasse, as it is the Palestinians who have displayed
inflexibility in their approach to peace.

Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, wants peace and is interested
in negotiations with the Palestinians. The Netanyahu government enjoys
popular support because a large majority of Israelis agree with this view.
All polls show that Israelis deeply desire peace and this issue influences
their voting behavior. Indeed, every Israeli government must demonstrate to
the electorate its seriousness in the peace process in order to be
reelected. Moreover, preserving American support for Israel requires showing
seriousness in the pursuit of peace.

True, what is required to convince Israelis about their government's
determination to pursue peace is not always enough to impress the outside
world. This gap is the source of much of the criticism leveled against
Israel. But the critical and/or hostile circles, which are heavily
influenced by misguided notions propagated by the discredited Israeli left
and Palestinian propaganda, are not in sync with regional realities and
entertain unrealistic expectations.

In his June 2009 speech at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan
University, Netanyahu successfully redefined the Israeli consensus and
became a mainstream political leader. Despite the Jews' ancient claim to
their historical homeland, the Land of Israel, Netanyahu expressed a
willingness to reach territorial compromise - a two-state solution - in
order to satisfy the national needs of the Palestinians.

Netanyahu's acceptance of a Palestinian state has been conditional, however.
His insistence on a demilitarized state reflects ingrained Israeli fears of
their dangerous neighbors. Netanyahu also demanded the long overdue
recognition of Israel as the Jewish nation-state. The Palestinians still
have to reciprocate the recognition of "Palestinian legitimate rights" of
1978 by Menachem Begin. In line with Israeli consensus, Netanyahu insisted
on Jerusalem remaining the undivided capital of the Jewish state.

Over 70 percent of Israelis agreed with Netanyahu's address - quite an
achievement for any Israeli prime minister. The Israeli consensus revolves
around the willingness to repartition the Land of Israel. There is enormous
skepticism about the Palestinians' ability to reach an historic compromise
with the Zionist movement and subsequently implement the agreement. Israelis
are most concerned about Palestinian compliance with Israel's security
requirements. Israelis want defensible borders, understanding that the peace
process is predicated upon a strong Israel.

Most of the hawkish faction within Netanyahu's Likud party feels comfortable
with Netanyahu's positions. This faction even supported the ten-month
partial freeze on new housing construction in Judea and Samaria that was
announced on November 25, 2009 - an unprecedented Israeli concession.
Netanyahu's government is strongly enforcing the moratorium.

Netanyahu believes that progress on the road to peace can only be achieved
by a slow process of institution-building and economic growth beginning from
the bottom-up. Indeed, his government has done its best to facilitate
economic growth in the PA by removing dozens of roadblocks in the West Bank,
thereby putting the lives of Jews at risk, and by supporting international
and Palestinian economic activity. Moreover, the Israeli prime minister
declared at every opportunity his willingness to enter into unconditional
talks with the PA. He has even accepted proximity talks despite Israel's
traditional insistence on direct talks.

So far, those advocating great Israeli territorial concessions to the
Palestinians in order to bring peace have been proven wrong. Two Israeli
prime ministers offered to cede virtually all of the disputed territories.
The offers of Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert were respectively rejected by
Yasser Arafat in 2000 and ignored by his successor, Mahmoud Abbas, in 2008.
Moreover, in 2000 the Palestinians launched a campaign of terror and
recently they have threatened to renew it. Similarly, after the Sharon
government unilaterally withdrew from Gaza and dismantled all settlements in
2005, the Gaza Strip was converted into a launching pad for intensified
missile attacks.

The Palestinians seem to have a great territorial appetite. Historically,
they have displayed a lack of political pragmatism that is a prerequisite
for reaching a compromise. Unfortunately, the Palestinians have no
Ben-Gurion-type leaders capable of making difficult decisions. The contrast
to Israeli leadership is striking, particularly when history shows that
Ben-Gurion was ready to accept the convoluted 1947 partition borders and a
Jewish state without Jerusalem.

Blaming Netanyahu for the current impasse assumes that the insatiable
Palestinians must be placated at the expense of vital Israeli security
interests, such as demilitarization of the West Bank and maintaining Israeli
control over the Jordan Valley and Greater Jerusalem. Ascribing
responsibility to Netanyahu for the impasse with the Palestinians also
wrongly assumes that the Palestinians have displayed flexibility in their
approach to Israel. Yet it is the Palestinians who insist on preconditions
for resuming the talks. Even Netanyahu's decision for the ten-month freeze
on building in the settlements was rejected by the PLO.

As a matter of fact, it is the Palestinians that are dragging their feet in
the peace negotiations. Only after heavy American pressure did the West Bank
leadership agree to negotiate with Israel, albeit "proximity talks,"
refusing to sit in the same room with the Israeli interlocutors. Mahmoud
Abbas in his May 2009 Washington Post interview emphasized that he is in no
hurry to negotiate with Israel and that he expects the Americans to force
Israel to accept the Palestinian conditions. His prime minister, Salam
Fayyad, announced a plan to unilaterally establish a Palestinian state in
two years instead of a state emerging from negotiations with Israel. Both
"moderate" leaders honor suicide bombers as martyrs and provide their
families with state pensions. They allow the PA-controlled media, education
system and mosques to continue to promote rabid anti-Semitism. Both reject
recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

Noteworthy, the PA hardly represents all Palestinians as Gaza is ruled by
Hamas and is partly discredited by corruption and ineptitude. Yet, all
Palestinians are united by the belief that Israel is the source for all
their troubles. Palestinian society in Gaza and in the West Bank is under
the spell of Hamas, which has not accepted Israel's right to exist.
Consequently, the Palestinians are not moving in the direction of compromise
and reconciliation.

Netanyahu's government probably has no illusions about the ability of the
Palestinians to reach an agreement with Israel and implement it in the near
future, but Netanyahu keeps the option of negotiations open. In contrast,
the Palestinians' goal is to extract Israeli concessions without
negotiations, hoping that Washington and/or the international community will
pressure Israel into accepting Palestinian demands.

Efraim Inbar is professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University and
director of the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies. This
article is a revised version of a piece published in Bitterlemons on March
8, 2010.

BESA Perspectives is published through the generosity of the Greg
Rosshandler Family.