Making an offer everyone has refused

What happens to a country that is weary from a protracted war which has been fought by the same recruits and reservists who have barely seen their families for nearly two years? The same thing that happens to its population, which has endured rockets, suicide drones and a full-scale war, that has decimated thousands of homes and apartment buildings.

Anxious to return to some normalcy of life, they are easy prey to accept an offer, which, although already refused by everyone, now promises the absence of conflict.  That is exactly what has been bubbling in the political cauldron of backroom deals.

According to Ynet’s Hebrew site, a comprehensive agreement is being forged between Netanyahu, Trump Witkoff and Dermer to release the hostages and expand the Abraham Accords.

Similarly, an article in yesterday’s Israel HaYom, entitled, “Trump and Netanyahu’s 2-state vision: Gaza war’s end, Abraham Accords expansion,” reports that “A four-way telephone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer occurred directly after the American assault on Iran’s nuclear installations.”

Its goals seek to jumpstart the Abraham Accords process by doing the following:

1. End the Gaza war within two weeks;

2. Gaza will be administered by four Arab nations (Egypt, UAE and two others yet undisclosed);

3. Hostages will regain freedom as Hamas leadership goes into exile;

4. Gazans will be divvied up into several nations who will agree to take them in;

5. Israel will be recognized by Syria, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, all of whom will establish relations with them.

6. The United States will acknowledge limited Israeli sovereignty implementation in Judea and Samaria.

All sounds great up to there, right?  Now for the not-so-great part.

“Israel will declare its willingness for future Palestinian conflict resolution under the ‘two states’ concept, contingent upon the Palestinian Authority reforms.”

And that’s the fly in the ointment! It’s almost as if everything – the massacre of October 7th, the kidnaping of our hostages, the constant Hamas rockets, the Houthi and Hezbollah proxy war and the most recent 12-day Iranian war was all a build-up to this moment in time – the final nail in the coffin where Israel is so worn down that she would agree to an offer everyone has refused. 

Now while some readers may think that all of the above-listed concessions are worth the price of what sounds like an abstract, future possibility of one day entering into a resolution of two states, here is why such an agreement would be a tragic and ill-fated mistake.

Let’s begin by the already well-known position of Palestinians, their terrorist leaders and their Hamas supporters, both in the Middle East and abroad, all of whom have made it clear that their vision of a Palestinian homeland is “From the river to the sea.” This leaves no room for a two-state solution – at least not in the same area.

The vision of a Palestinian homeland is one which does not include a Jewish presence.  It is one which insists that the Jews have no claim to this ancient land, and it is one that will not accept a religious ideology that differs from radical Islam. So how does any of that work towards a politically-driven two-state solution, if one side is unwilling to abide by the mutually agreed upon respect and acknowledgement of the other’s rights, expressions and way of life?

Is it possible that this hasn’t been thought through by these very intelligent and informed leaders, none of whom are newcomers to Middle East policy and the unresolvable issues which have prevented these two peoples from harmoniously living together for the past 77 years?  

Israel has always been willing to share its homeland with these people, despite the biblical contract given by God, outlining that this land would be the inheritance of Jacob’s descendants, whereas the sons of Esau would live in the land of Seir (Deut. 2:4-7), today encompassing modern-day Jordan.

Nonetheless, ever since its establishment in 1948, Israel has done everything to forge an agreement, albeit different from the one intended by God, in order to put an end to the centuries’ long hostilities which have been a continual thorn in the side of the Jewish people who returned to their ancestral homeland. Yet, no deal, regardless of how generous, was ever accepted, nor will one ever be.  So why continue to push a solution which no one wants?

That is, indeed, the puzzling question.  Perhaps it is because once the concession is formally accepted, it will then become a springboard for the real proposal – one which remains unvoiced and undefined. Or will it be something other than two states with two peoples, each living side by side in mutual respect and tolerance? 

So here we are, nearly 21 months following the most brutal massacre which ever took place on the Jewish people in their homeland. While Israel is weary, frustrated, exhausted and broken down, the world is dangling a carrot in front of our nose.  Who would blame us for being tempted to take it, especially as 20 of our live hostages hang on to the bare threads of life, ready to break at any moment?

But not only will we be tempted to go for it, almost everyone will see it as a win-win situation.  It solves the Hamas problem by allowing them to exit gracefully.  It returns our hostages. And most of all, it relegates the ravages of war to a distant memory, while promising future prosperity and a bright tomorrow, absent the worry of neighbors who plot our destruction.

So, what’s not to like? 

But don’t be deceived!  Such a plan will be costlier than it appears, making Israel further beholden to the gracious American benefactors who made it possible for us to finally live our best life.  In this case, the old adage, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” might be very fitting for this proposed plan which has all the earmarks of needing to cautiously read the fine print.

The problem is that the fine print is yet to be determined at a later date – at which time there will be no extricating ourselves from what we’ve already agreed to “consider!”

If ever there was a time to seek wisdom from on high, it is now, while we stand at the precipice of a future that could end up becoming our greatest nightmare!