Letter: Can the Missing Peace be Negotiated?

Dear editor:

I am not familiar with many of the terms David Rubin Sauvage and Kawtar El Alaoui used in their Comment. (“The Missing Peace” boulderjewishnews.org October 21, 2024.) However, I am fairly sure that they would agree with me that, in the best of all possible worlds, conflicts would be settled via negotiation rather than warfare or lawfare. Unfortunately, this is not the best of all possible worlds and Palestinian leaders have exhibited a disdain for negotiation. In fact, the Hamas Charter specifies that negotiation is futile and that Israel will exist until Muslims destroy it. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, has openly stated that only Israel needs to make concessions; his administration will not budge from its demands. Of course, Sauvage and El Alaoui might argue that it might be possible to start the movement to peaceful coexistence by building good relations between individuals who are not part of the government. I have long argued that Israeli businesses in Judea and Samaria, by employing both Palestinian and Israeli workers and supplying goods and services to both Israeli and Palestinian consumers, should be lauded as living proof that Palestinians and Israelis can get along. Unfortunately, the BDS movement does not agree and has long advocated for boycotts of products produced in “occupied” territory, with founders of the movement openly calling for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state.

I also think that El Alaoui and Sauvage would agree that negotiation will not work unless each side is willing to admit that the other is entitled to some level of respect and appreciation. Yahya Sinwar was serving time in an Israeli prison when it was discovered that he was suffering from a brain tumor. Israeli doctors operated, removing the tumor and saving Sinwar’s life. He was subsequently released from prison, along with 1,000 other prisoners, in exchange for an Israeli soldier (Gilad Shalit) who had been abducted into Gaza via one of Hamas’ terror tunnels and had been held for five years. Twelve years later, Sinwar orchestrated the October 7 atrocities in which Israeli volunteers who had been transporting Palestinians into Israel for medical treatment were among the slaughtered. Sinwar had no respect for the Israelis who had saved his life and other Palestinians similarly had no respect for Israelis who tried to work for peace.

The only path to true peace will start with Israel achieving a decisive victory over her enemies. World leaders should recognize that Israel is striving to achieve this goal while making every effort to avoid killing civilians (and largely succeeding in this effort). Then, the US, EU, and Arab countries in the Abraham Accords should work with Israel to demilitarize Gaza, wrest control of Lebanon from Hezbollah, and deradicalize the Palestinians. Efforts to institute some form of self-government for the Palestinians will need to be carefully supervised to ensure that donated funds are used for their intended purposes. And some mechanism will have to be instituted for determining when a Palestinian state, co-existing with the nation-state of the Jews, can be safely welcomed on the world stage.

Toby F. Block
Atlanta, GA