Dr. Aaron Lerner is co-founder of IMRA, 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. imra@netvision.net.il
"Peace Agreement", not "Peace" - a critical distinction
By Dr. Aaron Lerner
July 31, 2008 Bookmark to del.icio.us
"Peace Agreement" - Not "Peace" - a critical distinction
Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 31 July 2008
"On the day the dream of peace comes true we will all stand and wonder: How did we not achieve this sooner?"
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announcing he will not run in Kadima primaries - 30 July 2008
Israel is not negotiating "peace" with the Palestinians and Syrians, but instead pieces of paper.
"Peace treaties", "peace agreements" and even "peace arrangements" all have a place in policy discussions.
But policy arguments that posit "peace" as the pay-off are not just intellectually dishonest.
They are dangerously deceptive.
The hyper-optimistic "best case scenario" assumptions that all so often accompany the line of thinking that we are talking about achieving some kind of idyllic "peace" serve to dangerously underestimate Israel's needs or the risks Israel faces under the "peace" arrangements.
Consider that Shimon Peres genuinely argued at one point that Israel's security interests could be secured in a deal with Syria if there were classy hotels operating on the Golan Heights.
That's not to say that there isn't a value for agreements. Just that they must be recognized for what they are and what they aren't.
Pieces of paper cannot guarantee peace. They can provide a framework for relations. But if a party to a piece of paper determines its interests would be best served by violating the piece of paper then that's exactly what they will do.
That's the paradox of "land for piece of paper": the greater the Israeli security concessions for a piece of paper, the greater the chances that the Arabs ultimately turn their backs on the deal.
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