Last Chance - by Dov Weissglas
The coming days are a final chance to stop or, at the very least to slow down, Israel's political setback. From the day that Arafat died and the Palestinian Authority desisted from terrorism, its standing in the world has only strengthened. The demand for independence, for a demilitarized state within the 1967 borders (with agreed border revisions) with East Jerusalem as its capital, is accepted by nearly all the countries of the world, and it will almost certainly win sweeping recognition by the UN General Assembly in September.
(Published in Yedioth Ahronoth, May 3, p. 32, by British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould - translation by Israel News Today)
Peace is Security
Six months is a long time in the Middle East. Since my arrival in September as Britain's ambassador to Israel, there have been some enormous upheavals in this region. Recent weeks have seen a return of horrendous violence, including a shower of rocket attacks in southern Israel, and horrific attacks in Itamar and Jerusalem.
(published in Yedioth Ahronoth, May 1, p. 20, by Uri Misgav - translation by Israel News Today)
Oops, We've Been Dragged Again
Look at these Palestinians: they don't miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity to coordinate their steps with Binyamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres. It's important to them to reach the finish line of recognition of the Palestinian state united, at least outwardly. Go understand them.
It should at least be said to their credit that they had someone to learn from. Binyamin Zeev Herzl, David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann, to name a few examples. In that sense, to use a common historic phrase, Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad are "standing on the shoulders of giants."
