WarSclerotic

The right decision, Israel Hayom, Dr. Haim Shine, April 25, 2014

Suspending the talks with the Palestinians was the responsible, logical and necessary choice for the Israeli government to make • As in the past, U.S. leaders have learned the hard way about reality in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not talk with Hamas-backed government | Photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem

The unanimous decision of the Israeli government to suspend the talks with the Palestinians was not dramatic. It was the responsible, logical and necessary decision to make after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas embraced Hamas, with malicious defiance, at a decisive time in the negotiations with Israel.

Abbas stood at a fork in the road. At the end of one path was a peace agreement with Israel. And at the end of the other path was a partnership with a group of vicious murderers led by Ismail Haniyeh. Abbas chose the second path, and for this he should be made to pay the full political and economic price. It is now more clear than ever that Abbas’ main motive for holding talks with Israel was the release of murderers, who are held dear by Palestinian society.

On the walls of the conference room in Gaza, where the reconciliation talks took place and Hamas and PA officials shook hands, were pictures of martyred Hamas members — terrorists. There was also a picture of the Temple Mount compound, with the Al-Aqsa mosque in the center. These pictures well represent the clear and sole Palestinian narrative — kill as many Jews as possible, launch missiles and attack innocents. All of this to expel the Jews from Jerusalem and return them to the 1967 borders, steps on the way to the ultimate goal of eliminating the Jewish entity in the land of Israel.

The entire people of Israel want peace, but, as Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, Jewish leaders cannot be tempted by the illusion of peace. The Israeli government calmly and wisely managed to expose the true face of Abbas, the disciple and successor of Yasser Arafat. It has again been proved that the Palestinians do not want peace or a state alongside Israel. Rather, they want a state in Israel’s place.

It is a shame that the post-Zionist opposition in Israel continues to support Abbas and blames the Israeli government for the failure of the negotiations. The opposition is incapable of rising above petty considerations at moments that require national unity. During his decades as opposition leader, the late Menachem Begin always had the good of the country in mind. Labor leader Isaac Herzog and Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On must learn that even the opposition can display responsibility and leadership.

The American government will hopefully internalize that its efforts were in vain, that Israel has no partner for peace. As in the past, American leaders learned the hard way about the reality in the Middle East. They should use what determination they have left to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue.

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