Oh wait. That was yesterday's--er, Sunday's--news! As usual, the brutal truth is that there have been no steps forward (or even backward). Middle East peace stands precisely where it has stood for more than a generation: at the question of Israel's existence. To wit, here's the Egyptian president's reaction to the Netanyahu speech (via the BBC):
It's laughable. If Israel, by requiring that its existence be officially recognized, "ruins" the chances for peace, then I think it's safe to say that peace is not possible at present. Only someone determined not to see the fact could miss it. There are many more appropriate ways to label this, however. Israel didn't "ruin" anything that wasn't already in the garbage. Try this title instead:"I have also told him loud and clear that the call for recognising Israel as a Jewish state would complicate matters and abort the chances of peace," the state-run Mena news agency quoted Mr Mubarak as telling military officials.
"I even warned him that this particular call would not be met by a favourable response from Egypt or beyond."
Arabs Defeat Themselves In Quest For Palestine
That just about sums it up. Well, provided that the rest of the world doesn't follow Mubarak's lead and join the ranks of the insane.
There are few in Israel who oppose the existence of a Palestinian state--provided that it does not serve as a launching pad for the destruction of the Jewish state. This has been the case for so long it's easy to lose track of time. And you don't have to be a pro-Israel-radical to see the sense of requiring the recognition of Israel as a condition for a Palestinian state (or else the threshold of 'radicalism' is at a very low ebb).
So, I think it's fair to say Golda Maier got it right when she said: “We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.”
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