“Does “land for peace” work?
Recent developments in the Sinai Peninsula, where the ‘Red Sea Riviera’ has spiraled into anarchy and violence, has put into sharp focus the serious consequences of Israel’s initial decision to embrace retreat as a guiding diplomatic philosophy.
It may well be time for Israel and Egypt to revisit the negotiating table with the aim of developing an action plant to confront and quell the Islamist insurgency that has swept over the Sinai Peninsula…”
To read the entire essay as it appears in CiF Watch, click below:
Jerusalem State of Mind 
Land for peace has never worked, will never work. It only puts us in greater danger of rocket attacks etc. With the latest Egyptian regime calling for a march on Jerusalem, why waste time negotiating with them. We only make ourselves look weak. Israel must stop offering anything for negotiations, and must put their foot down and say that the other parties must come to table ready to discuss peace, otherwise no deal. Israel has been messed around some many times. Enough is Enough.
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Hi Ralph,
Good to hear from you. I agree with your comment and would like to add that, ultimately, it’s to the benefit of all Arab/Muslim countries to establish normal relations (ala USA-Canada) with Israel. For while Israel would benefit a potential market of hundreds of millions of people for its goods, services and knowhow, Arab/Muslim nations would become less dependent on the typical benefactors of the US, China and Russia.
Gidon
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I read some time ago that the five permanent members of the Security Council of the UN, are the five major producers of arms in the world.
They would most probably lose a lot of their arms business if not all, if there was peace throught out the world, not only here. Of course that would cause a major world wide depression, except for countries like Israel where we could save the Defence budget which is I think about one third of the total budget.
Politics is always about self interest, and I cannot see my dream coming true soon. Forgive the cynacism
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Hi Ralph,
Good to hear from you. Perhaps I’m just a bit less skeptical than you regarding nations’ motivations. After all, there’s a potentially lucrative “peace dividend” to be minded from normalized relations between Israel and its neighbors: long-term benefit as budgets for defense spending would be at least partially redirected to social programs and/or a decrease in taxation rates. Regarding Israel’s defence budget, being able to shift from a perpetual war footing to trade and commerce would finally release the country from its overdependence on one nation, the United States, for its well-being and protection. While the US has long been an ally of Israel’s, it’s been a rather costly courtship.
Regards,
Gidon
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