Obama and Netanyahu: Keeping the Focus on the Palestinians

In a recent speech to the annual AIPAC conference, Vice President Joe Biden told his audience that Israel must work toward a two-state solution and that Israeli efforts must include a halt to settlement building, the dismantlement of existing settlements, and freedom of movement for Palestinians. By focusing on Israeli actions, the vice president is ignoring the real culprit when it comes to obstacles to the Middle East peace process.

The expansion of Israeli territory serves a legitimate purpose. It provides a buffer against attacks on key Israeli population centers by terrorists seeking the destruction of the Jewish state. Israel has tried trading land for peace and each time the result has been the same. In 1982 Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula in exchange for a peace deal with Egypt. Yet the border between Egypt and Gaza continues to be a focal point for the smuggling of weapons and explosives that target Israeli civilians. In 1985 Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon as part of a peace deal, a move that has been met with repeated attacks from Hezbollah militants over the past quarter century. In 2005 Israel dismantled all of its settlements and positions in the Gaza Strip and unilaterally withdrew all its forces after a promise of peace for ending the "occupation." Yet early this year Israeli forces once again crossed into Gaza in an effort to stop the incessant rocket attacks that Hamas militants were using to target Israeli citizens. What has been clear in each case is that appeasement does not work. Palestinian promises of peace have been followed by rockets, bombs and bullets aimed at innocent civilians.

The election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a clear sign that even moderate Israelis are fed up with the Palestinians. Netanyahu, who campaigned on a platform dedicated to Israeli national security, has publicly opposed a two-state solution arguing that the Palestinians have not demonstrated the capacity for self-rule. He's right.

Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank represent a divided Palestinian population that has been unable to come together to work toward peace with Israel. Of course, it's hard to work toward peace when one party, Hamas, refuses to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. Hamas has consistently rejected a permanent peace with Israel, and until that changes, no substantive progress is going to be made. Palestinians in Gaza chose Hamas to represent them, and the Israelis chose Netanyahu. The current climate is hardly conducive to a two-state solution or to lasting peace in the region. Until the rockets and suicide bombers stop, and until Hamas and the Palestinians accept Israel's right to exist, peace overtures are a waste of time. Netanyahu understands this well because he lives with it every day of his life.

When he meets with President Barack Obama today, he would do well to stress to the new president that it is the Palestinians, and not the Israelis, who have continually failed to work toward peace in the Middle East, and that it is the Palestinians, and not the Israelis, who should be the focus of U.S. efforts at behavior modification.