The Economist’s Newsbook says the “Palestine papers” show Israel’s disinterest in the peace process:
They contradict the official Israeli narrative that the Palestinians rejected generous Israeli offers, and portray Palestinians as initiating ideas, only to be stymied by Israeli stonewalling. They give credence to Palestinian claims that Mr Netanyahu made no counter-proposals. Had a more responsive Israeli prime minister been in charge, or had the Obama administration picked up from where his predecessors left off, rather than frittering away two years on an elusive settlement freeze, a two-state agreement might yet have looked imminent.
No surprise there. But I disagree about Obama. Asking Israel to abide by international law and stop building illegal settlements on Palestinian land is not “frittering away two years.” It is merely asking the state that the United States hails as the Middle East’s ‘one true democracy’ to act worthy of that label, and it is necessary for the peace process to move forward. Fragile coalition politics aside, Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to enact a freeze demonstrates that he is not, and perhaps never was, interested in achieving peace on anyone’s terms but his own.
Civil Minded 