10 reasons
Kol hakavod to Adam Basciano and Eli W. Kowaz for “10 reasons two states must be advanced” (Comment & Features, January 9), and to The Jerusalem Post for publishing it, providing much-needed balance to the many opinion pieces and letters to the editor critical of a twostate resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
I think their 10 arguments are valuable and indisputable, but perhaps most important are that “[a]lmost the entire retired and current Israeli security establishment unequivocally states: taking steps to advance two states is the only way to ensure Israel’s security,” and that a settlement would leave most Jews in Judea and Samaria to remain within Israel’s slightly modified borders.
Of course, getting such a resolution to the conflict will not be easy, and there is much truth to Abba Eban’s statement that the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. However, Israel should make obtaining a resolution a priority, with conditions for maximizing its security. Such a resolution will be essential if it’s to avert continued and potentially increased violence and diplomatic criticism and isolation; effectively respond to its economic, environmental and other domestic problems; and remain a Jewish and democratic state. RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ
Shoresh
Adam Basciano and Eli W. Kowaz quote a poll reported on Reshet Bet stating that 61% of Israelis support the two-state solution.
I heard about the poll. The question asked was: Do you support annexing parts of Judea and Samaria to Israel proper? A whopping 70% agreed to this idea; 30% agreed to annexing some of the lands in Judea and Samara, and 39% agreed to annexing all of the land.
Somehow, after the poll was reported, one of the writers apparently added together the 30% supporting some annexation with the 30% favoring two states, and claimed that the majority of Israelis support a Palestinian State. This is distorted writing.
What kind of Palestinian state would it be? Like Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen? Is this the kind of state we want five minutes away?
It is a known fact that the Palestinians count in their population census at least one million people living abroad. I do not think we have to worry about demographics.
Have the writers also taken into account that the Gaza Strip and so-called West Bank will never get together, something that would actually give them two states (and three, if you include Jordan, which has a majority of Palestinians living there)? Have they taken into account that the Palestinians have not budged one iota on their maximalist demands?
This treatise defies logic! NANCY CHERNOFSKY Jerusalem