History matters
Would an Israeli Jew or an Israeli Arab resident of Sederot, Ashkelon, Qiryat Gat, or even Tel Aviv who had endured the recurring and subsequent increasingly lethal rocket attacks from Gaza have written an article like Phil Horn’s op-ed, “How not to win friends and not influence people”? (Dec. 13) Have we forgotten that the Palestinian Authority lost control of Gaza to a more militant and uncompromising Hamas-led government shortly after Israel, following the “Land for Peace” policy, had given Gaza to the Palestinian Authority?
If Israel withdraws to the 1949 borders or to the negotiated borders based on the 1967 border, will the Israelis experience similar hostilities from the West Bank if the Palestinian Authority is unable to retain this territory as it had failed to do in Gaza in 2005? What would be the possible alternatives available to Israel to stop similar hostilities against its Arab and Jewish citizens short of military action? Yes, the current Israeli leadership is neither accepting the suggested advice of the Diaspora or the approach of Israel’s founders but is following an approach that is shaped by the experience of its current and historical relations with the Arabs, and in particular, with the Palestinians.
Marvin Elmowitz
West Caldwell
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