Weekly Commentary: The one ultimate fact that must not be ignored about
sovereign state

Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 3 June 2015

A sovereign Palestinian state established within the framework of detailed
bilateral and international agreements and understandings could remain a
sovereign state even if it ignored or even outright openly voided those
agreements and understandings.”

This is the critical fact that must guide our approach to the 2 state
question.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wisely declares that a necessary condition
for a Palestinian state is the ongoing operation of the IDF inside the areas
of such a state.

Even if such an arrangement was included in the detailed bilateral and
international agreements and understandings associated with the
establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, when the Palestinians ignore
or even outright openly void this arrangement they would remain a sovereign
state.

It would be insulting to suggest that the Palestinians aren’t aware of this
and even more insulting to assume that they won’t plan to do just that in a
series of moves crafted to draw support from significant elements of the
international community and understanding from others.

The State of Israel does not seek photo opportunity signing ceremonies at
the expense of its obligation to this and future generations.

This attitude of sacrificing the welfare of future generations for the sake
of short-term gain runs counter to Jewish tradition. The story is told
(Ta'anit, 23a) of Honi Hame'agel, the Jewish Rip Van Winkle, who saw an old
man planting a carob tree. He asked the man why he was working so hard,
since the tree would bear fruit only in 70 years.

The man replied: "I found a world with carobs because my forefathers planted
them, and I say: I also plant a carob tree ... for my children after me."

We owe it to ourselves, to previous generations who sacrificed so much to
get us here as well as to the unborn future generations, to resist the
temptation to forfeit the future in return for what at best may be momentary
relief.

To be clear: We Israelis - across the political spectrum - are very
interested and open to support programs and policies to give hope to the
Palestinians for a good today - and an even better tomorrow. And many of
these policies and programs are already being implemented – with the removal
of roadblocks and upgrading of remaining ones streamlining Palestinian
movement in the West Bank combined with a dramatic liberalization of work
and other entry permits into Israel. It seems that a week doesn’t go by
without a report in Ma’an - the independent Palestinian news agency - of
additional Israeli measures and programs to improve the situation.

Yes. We most certainly want to give the Palestinians hope.

But there is one Palestinian hope that is not in the cards: the hope that
we will disappear.

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