Foxey

Abe Foxman, former member of Betar in NY in the 1950s, and who turned out to be a moderate and one who could have done so much more for Israel, finds the right idea, finally, in this letter in today''s NYTimes:-

It is disappointing that despite the reality of the last year, you dredge up the old mantra that there must be pressure on Israel to make concessions to move the peace process forward.

Israel withdrew from Gaza unilaterally last year, giving up settlements, and this year Ehud Olmert was elected prime minister on a campaign to withdraw from much of the West Bank.

Instead of building on Israel’s initiative, the Palestinians launched missiles at southern Israel and elected a terrorist group committed to Israel’s destruction.

This, together with Hezbollah’s military buildup and attacks on Israel from inside Lebanon, made a mockery of the idea that Israeli concessions are the key to Palestinian and Arab change.

You should focus on convincing the Palestinians that progress will come only when they fundamentally change their approach and accept Israel, stop terror, end the teaching of hate and negotiate in good faith.

Then, and only then, will the lives of Palestinians and Israelis change for the better.

And to think, he really knew all this way before Israel "occupied" anything.