Widening the circle of those who contribute to the state via military or civilian service is of great importance to maintaining Israel's social cohesion, and slowing the nation's disintegration into warring, separatist tribes.
When serious and extremist politicians like Likud MK Benny Begin voted to freeze construction, we cannot assume that means they've since converted to being Peace Now activists.
What has not been said about Herman ("Who?") Van Rompuy? That he's a clown, that he's odd, unknown, that he has a habit of cloistering himself in Benedictine monasteries to write meditative odes and haiku.
We should welcome the open differences of opinion in the Likud party regarding the future of the territories occupied during the Six-Day War. The political establishment is approaching a point where it will no longer be possible to evade decisions that will be among the most crucial in the state's history.
Clearly, it is not the Bedouin still living in shacks, or those who ran out of patience and built houses without proper permits, who are responsible for the lack of legal plots. The responsibility rests with successive Israeli governments that did not view the problem as important enough to provide funds for buying up the empty lots in the existing towns.
At the core of the strategic thinking of Hezbollah and its patrons lie a series of delusions, which are likely to bring about the defeat of the movement over time. Between that point and the present, however, further strife and conflict are likely.
Most Israelis and Palestinians reject the status quo, but neither side is capable of doing more than accepting in principle the 2003 road map and the two-state solution. Given this situation, the responsible way to handle things is to attach a gradual political action plan to the Palestinian state-building proposal that Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad put forth in August.
Today, the Palestinian leadership is reaping the fruits of its past chronic mistakes. From a tactical perspective, the fact that it has entrenched itself behind the demand for a settlement freeze only put Benjamin Netanyahu in a more comfortable situation, relieving him of having to do anything serious to facilitate the resumption of the peace process.
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