Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Sharon won't set Israel's borders

While I've been busy catching up on my work, Sharon has reportedly decided that he wants to be reelected to be the prime minister who determines Israel's final borders, whether through negotiations with the Palestinians or, if that fails, unilaterally:
"Sharon thinks that only he can do it because he knows the land and this is his historic mission. He looks around and sees no other potential Israeli leader who can do it. It will be difficult, but it's what the nation wants and it's what the world wants."

Ambitious? Sure. Realistic? Not very.

On the one hand, there is still no indication that there is any conceivable basis for a negotiated agreement between Israel and the Arabs. Where will the border run in the Jerusalem area, for example? Will the Arabs agree to forfeit the Old City? Or will we?

On the other hand, as I wrote a few weeks ago, "it's hopelessly naive to think that Israel has the power to unilaterally determine its permanent border. A border by definition has (at least) two sides. So long as the Arabs refuse to accept our self-declared border, it will remain up for grabs."

Sharon is a man of vision and ambition. But even he can't do the impossible.

There is currently no conceivable solution to the Israel-Arab conflict. No negotiated solution and no unilateral solution. Will our leaders ever stop promising us the impossible?

1 comment:

The Observer said...

Who's he kidding? Everyone knows that the border is going to be set by the Supreme Court.