On the other hand, does anyone doubt that Ariel Sharon hopes his
policy of creeping annexation of the West Bank will somehow, someday,
end with all the Palestinians on the other side of the Jordan River?
I think the U.S. commitment to the security of Israel should be
absolute. I don't think the U.S. should be favoring the Israeli
annexation of large chunks of the West Bank.
Brad DeLong
Me:
Yes, I do. I don't think Sharon has any interest in the West Bank as
anything but a security zone. For God's sake, it's _the West Bank_.
Having control of it is what should happen to you if you _lose_ a war.
With the exception of a very small fraction of the extreme right in Israel,
as far as I can tell no one there wants the West Bank. Pretty much
everyone on the Israeli side is willing to accept a two-state solution -
they may differ on the boundaries of that stte, on what assurances they
would accept, and so on. But they are willing to accept two states, and
Sharon has publicly stated his belief that there must be a two-state
solution aswell. I agree with you precisely. I think that the US
commitment to the security of Israel should be absolute. The security of
Israel should be America's _first_ priority in the Middle East. I also
agree that the US should not favor the annexation of large chunks of the
West Bank. We differ in that I see no evidence that Sharon - or anyone
else of significance in Israeli politics - wants to do that.
Gautam
