Representatives of Arab states would be sitting there together with the Palestinians, and which side do you think they’d support?
By GILAD SHARONWHAT IF Israel was sitting here? Members of the Arab League gather at a recent meeting.(photo credit: REUTERS)
‘Give him water, give him water.” We hear this nonsensical advice whenever people find themselves in an emergency and don’t know what to do.If a person is lying on the ground unconscious, for example, you might literally drown them by pouring water down their throat. I myself have stopped a well-meaning group of clowns from giving water to their friend who was severely injured in a car crash and would most likely have choked on it.You “give them water” if they have a broken leg – or if missiles are being fired at Israel.Water, the elixir of life, the solution to every problem. But more than it helps the person in need, it helps the genius who offers it.This is what goes through my mind whenever I hear the words “regional conference.” When some empty-headed fool wants to say something that sounds intelligent, sounds like an all-encompassing solution that will finally put an end to the problem with those people, you know, the Palestinians, he comes out with the slogan “regional conference” and all’s right with the world.What would really happen at such a conference if it should ever take place, heaven forbid? Representatives of Arab states would be sitting there together with the Palestinians, and which side do you think they’d support?Would they call on the Palestinians to recognize our right to a Jewish state? Would they explain to them that they have to pay a price for a hundred years of terrorism?That what they could have had 70 years ago, but rejected, they could no longer have after the War of Independence? That what they had 50 years ago, but that wasn’t enough for them, they lost after the Six Day War?That what they didn’t agree to when prime ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert offered it, they’re not going to be offered again?Would they make it clear to the Palestinians that rejection comes at a cost? That the way they’re running the Gaza Strip is a sign of what would happen in Judea and Samaria, because they’re proving they can’t be trusted and that if we’re not there it will become a terrorist state?
On whom would the Arab countries put pressure? From whom would they demand that Palestinian “refugees” be taken in, as stipulated in the Saudi initiative? Who would they blame if the conference failed?You have to understand: there is no immediate solution, and it doesn’t matter how you try to achieve one. Direct talks, a regional conference or any other quick fix – it’s not going to happen. Any agreement, if it is ever reached, will take a long time.In the meanwhile, aside from quiet, we don’t demand anything and we don’t concede anything.What’s more, a logical solution is always waiting in the wings, although it probably wouldn’t be to the liking of Jordan’s King Abdullah. But how can you weigh the good of one man against the common good?To paraphrase Jabotinsky, two banks has the Jordan; this one is ours and that one is our neighbor’s. Three-quarters of the Land of Israel is located east of the Jordan River.If that territory were to be declared a Palestinian state, we would no longer be obliged to negotiate with the corrupt syndicate known as the Palestinian Authority. It wouldn’t be a factor any more.And there would be no more useless “peace industry” to put food on the table of any number of freeloaders whose main job is to slander us. The Palestinians would have their country, and they could vote for the parliament in Amman or even stand for election, just like back in the days of king Hussein. And that wasn’t so long ago.