Clarifying our rights

Applying Israeli law to Ma’aleh Adumim or to other parts of Area C, or even all of it (“Bennett: We will annex Ma’aleh Adumim as a first step,” January 3), is not a bad idea, but it isn’t the most appropriate response to the assault on Israel implied by the recent Security Council resolution. The proper response is to affirm Israel’s legal rights, which are extensive, as opposed to Arab rights, which are minimal – in fact, non-existent.

Step one should be to adopt the Levy Report on settlement and implement it as the basis for Israeli policy. Second, we should encourage discussion of the report by sponsoring debates and legal analyses in academic, legal and political forums. This could well imply the expenditure of significant sums of money, but it would be money well spent, even if the debates are resolved negatively.

It is important to establish that Israel has a legally defensible claim to Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, and, in fact, to all of the territory noted in the original League of Nations Palestine Mandate, which includes the land on which Jordan was established.

The best defense is a good offense. At the end of the day, we could agree to abandon our claims to the areas beyond the Jordan River in exchange for recognition of our rights to all the land to the west. STEPHEN COHEN Ma’aleh Adumim