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Dr. Aaron Lerner is co-founder of , Independent Media Review and Analysis, an Israel-based news organization which provides an extensive digest of media, polls and significant interviews and events relating to the Israeli-Arab conflict.
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By Dr. Aaron Lerner
July 13, 2007
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"We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority."
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in his last policy address to the Knesset on October 5, 1995 before the vote to ratify the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement
That's right. Rabin opposed a sovereign Palestinian state.
He considered the "two sovereign state" solution a non-starter.
If Rabin were alive today he might find himself more comfortable with the views of the so-called "extremist" in National Union than he would with the views of either his former Labor Party rival Shimon Peres or Kadima head Ehud Olmert -- both proponents of "two sovereign state" solution schemes.
But wasn't Mr. Rabin aware of the "demographic problem"?
The "demographic problem" hinges on what might normally be an esoteric question relegated to political philosophy debates in the ivory tower of academe: is it a sufficient expression of the right to self determination to vote for the Palestinians to elect the leaders of an autonomy or must they have the right to vote for the leaders of a sovereign state?
The "demographic problem" hinges on this otherwise esoteric question because the "demographic problem" only exists if the Palestinians in the autonomy can vote in the Israeli Knesset elections.
Just a few short years ago -- even after Oslo was signed -- even Shimon Peres thought that autonomy was sufficient and thus the "demographic problem" was not relevant. "We thought that autonomy is basically, almost independence," Peres explained. Ironically, the only significant development relating to this issue since then is that the Oslo experience demonstrated how fundamentally dangerous and unworkable a sovereign Palestinian state would be. Regional level autonomy provides the opportunity to the Palestinian population to exercise a form of self-rule without jeopardizing Israel's security.
Accept the election of the leaders of an autonomy as a sufficient realization of the right to self determination and the "moral imperative" for a sovereign Palestinian state (or some convoluted arrangement for Palestinians to vote in the elections of a neighboring sovereign state such as Jordan) falls by the wayside.
Contrary to the radical changes associated with the formation of a sovereign Palestinian state, movement towards regional level autonomy is a natural development as municipal level leadership gives priority to the provision of municipal services over what might be termed "national concerns".
It should be noted that there have been numerous occasions that Palestinian municipal level authorities have cooperated with Israel in matters relating to municipal services in contravention of instructions from Ramallah.
That's not to say that this very same municipal leadership has abandoned either the Palestinian rhetoric or goals -- just that on a practical level their focus is the provision of local municipal services.
Focusing efforts on regional level autonomy via increased cooperation on a municipal level would not only move us towards a workable solution, it can also help to provide the stability so sorely lacking in the areas under the control of the PA today.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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