One of the notable aspects of the 25th Knesset election is the lack of any discussion about a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Until two decades ago, the main issue in elections was how Israel could make peace with the Arabs. Today, not even a visit by the president of the biggest superpower in the world, Joe Biden, raised the issue a two-state solution – Israel and Palestine.
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The lack of peace on the horizon and Israel's refusal to comply with the Saudi proposal for peace and normalization, which has been officially adopted by the Arab League, which unites 22 Arab states, could cost Israel heavily. The main cost is to its image, since Israel has always been portrayed on the international stage and the Arab world in particular as refusing peace.
It's no wonder that all political leaders in Israel, on the Right and the Left, are dodging the Palestinian question, and anyone who dares broach it quickly becomes a leper.
Just like the Palestinian Authority has a right to manage its own civil affairs without being dependent on the Israeli economy, Israel has a right to a peace agreement that will ensure the safety and well-being of its residents, but for both of these things to happen, both sides must enter into negotiations and declare their intention to reach a solution within a given amount of time.
At some stage, Israeli-PA relations – which right now are a ticking time bomb – could blow up and damage both Israel and the PA, which is already weak because of matters inside, as well as outside, its borders.
Peace between Israel and the Palestinians isn't some impossible dream. It is much closer than any peace Israel could make with any Arab regime or leader. Peace with Arab states isn't causing any real excitement in the Arab world, which fears that their leaders are enjoying the fruits of it and leaving them behind. If we take, for example, the peace with Morocco or the United Arab Emirates, the famous results of the Abraham Accords, the people of Israel are benefitting in terms of economics and tourism, but for the Arab citizens, peace is more like a distant rumor. They are still listening mostly to rumors about the Palestinian problem.
This focus does direct harm to Israel – in terms of its image, its security, and its diplomacy. The prime ministers and policy makers who rejected any discourse with the Palestinian leadership were forced to make decisions related to the Palestinian issue – from Ariel Sharon to Avigdor Lieberman to Benjamin Netanyahu to Naftali Bennett.
Now is the time for Israel to respond to the Arab League's proposal and launch negotiations, before it's too late and reality forces a binational state at war with itself.
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