State Department: When We Say "Two Secure States", That's More a Motto than a Commitment
As the State Department continues to pressure Israel to make concessions which will endanger the lives of Israeli citizens...
Rice, seeking to give a boost to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas ahead of crucial elections, said Thursday that she would press Israel to make new conciliatory gestures in the peace process. She made her remarks to reporters two months after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, which has so far failed to become the catalyst for peace talks that Washington had once forecast.
... the Palestinians refuse to make even symbolic concessions to Israeli security needs:
The Palestinian Authority objects to Israel being able to directly monitor its compliance with signed agreements to prevent the smuggling of terrorist arms into territories under its control, particularly the recently Jew-purged Gaza Strip. Ongoing dispute over Israel's insistence on being able to watch the Rafah Crossing along the Gaza-Sinai border via live video feed is holding up a deal on reopening the crossing.
Israel will give the Palestinians their own state, their own army, and control over their own borders. In return, Israel is pointing out that the Gaza-Egypt border is the main route through which Palestinian terrorists get weapons, and that therefore Israel has at least a passing interest in monitoring who and what get through. But the Palestinians, for some reason, are reluctant to let Israel see who they're allowing onto Israel's doorstep.
Rice, seeking to give a boost to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas ahead of crucial elections, said Thursday that she would press Israel to make new conciliatory gestures in the peace process. She made her remarks to reporters two months after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, which has so far failed to become the catalyst for peace talks that Washington had once forecast.
... the Palestinians refuse to make even symbolic concessions to Israeli security needs:
The Palestinian Authority objects to Israel being able to directly monitor its compliance with signed agreements to prevent the smuggling of terrorist arms into territories under its control, particularly the recently Jew-purged Gaza Strip. Ongoing dispute over Israel's insistence on being able to watch the Rafah Crossing along the Gaza-Sinai border via live video feed is holding up a deal on reopening the crossing.
Israel will give the Palestinians their own state, their own army, and control over their own borders. In return, Israel is pointing out that the Gaza-Egypt border is the main route through which Palestinian terrorists get weapons, and that therefore Israel has at least a passing interest in monitoring who and what get through. But the Palestinians, for some reason, are reluctant to let Israel see who they're allowing onto Israel's doorstep.
