The end of the Sukkot holiday gave the world a new reason to celebrate: American President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Obama began his term with much pretension but has yet to produce results. Rather than win the Nobel for his achievements, he received the prize due to his "new approach" – namely, to try to resolve all of the world's major conflicts diplomatically. Since we're personally involved in one of these conflicts, we can appreciate Obama's goodwill, but we can't help but be disappointed that the new President has not brought any new ideas to the table, and is continuing in the way everyone (except Obama, perhaps) has already realized is not the answer.

The "two-state solution" has failed, because the foundations of the idea are flawed. Therefore, we were able to predict its failure long before the idea had ever been attempted. The aspiration to find a 'political solution to the Palestinian problem', meaning to found a Palestinian nation-state, was created only as a way to undermine the State of Israel. It is clear that such a state could not exist peacefully next to Israel, and there is no way the State of Israel would allow such a state to exist (unless we insist on calling municipal autonomy a state). In addition, a Palestinian state does not solve the Palestinian refugee problem. All it would do is grant the Palestinian national movement a wider base of action to wage war against Israel and continue in neglecting to rehabilitate the refugees, as it has done since this movement was founded.

In recent years, it seems that the truly important questions on the future of the Israeli-Arab conflict no longer bother the Israeli public. As despair from Oslo continues to grow and there is a lull in terror due to military action, the current situation is easy for Israel to live with, and the country is busy with defending itself on the international field: The Goldstone Report, American pressure on the settlements, etc. New political ideas? None. Thinking outside of the box about peace? No thanks.

Instead of taking advantage of the relative quiet and stability to present a new strategic vision, the government prefers to remain inert.

For more on this topic, visit our blog at: theisraelinitiative.blogspot.com

At the same time, it seems that in other parts of the world, people have woken up and are ready to try a fresh approach. An article from Tuesday's New York Daily News looks like it was taken directly from The Israeli Initiative's pamphlets. Under the headline "Arab states' crimes against Palestinians: For years, they've kept the people dispossessed," known writers Judith Miller (a former New York Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner) and David Samuels (a contributor the The Atlantic and The New Yorker) direct readers' attention to the continuing negligence in dealing with the Palestinian refugees. The continued work towards founding a Palestinian state had led to the neglecting of the refugees, rather than rehabilitated them. Miller and Samuels detail the continued refusal of Arab nations to grant civil rights to the refugees in their countries over the course of decades, and agree that "after 60 years of failed wars and failed peace, Arab governments should allow Palestinians to keep their national dream alive, while also enjoying the basic freedoms to work, vote and own property."

Professor Nitza Nachmias, an expert on international organizations from the Jewish-Arab Center at Haifa University, published an article in the Middle East Forum that harshly criticizes URWA on its 60th birthday. "Sixty years ago UNRWA was created as a temporary emergency relief agency," she explains, "Sixty years and billions of dollars later, UNRWA has become an entrenched permanent, overstaffed, affluent bureaucracy. In a surprising and unprecedented move for any emergency aid organization, UNRWA launched in September 2008 a two-year global celebration entitled: 'UNRWA at 60'. The lavish events put an additional financial burden on the donors that astonishingly did not stop to ask: is UNRW's 60th anniversary a cause for celebration, or is it a testimony of failure?"

According to Nachmias, most of the true refugees left UNRWA's camps many years ago, while other Arabs took advantage of the generous agency, whose mandated role ended in the early 1950s. In addition, "UNRWA facilities, including schools, health clinics and even hospitals, are used as training grounds and safe haven for guerrilla armies and terrorists. The autonomous status of UNRWA has enabled the agency to ignore these conventions with impunity. UNRWA, by its own admission, contravenes US law."

If the international community wants to help the Palestinians, Nachmias concluded, it should look for alternative solutions.

For the article in the Daily News Press here
For Nitzah Nahmias's article Press here

The holiday of Sukkot that we celebrated last week represents, amongst other things, the hope for world peace. Reality has taught us that peace can not be attained through weakness, rather through strength and generosity. Unfortunately, with the Israeli public's disappointment in the tragic Oslo "peace" process, many Israelis have given up on the dream of peace and settled for the continuation of the conflict between Israel and the Arab world.

We at The Israeli Initiative have not given up hope. We believe that strengthening Israel and realizing the ancient dream to return to Zion can bring true peace. Such a peace will be based on the Jewish people's right to its land, and will materialize from self-confidence that will allow Israel to concern itself with the welfare and prosperity of neighboring nations, even those who now believe that their success will come from our destruction.

After decades of conflict, Israeli society deserves to enjoy peace, and the Middle East deserves to be released from the cycle of violence in favor of development and growth. If we follow the path marked by The Israeli Initiative, this dream can become a reality.


Please forward this newsletter to your friends, and we're be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Yours,
Yoav Sorek
Manager, The Israeli Initiative
www.Israelinitiative.com