A Palestinian State: Wither or Whither?
by Israel HighWay Staff

Since September 13, 1993, when the Oslo Accords were signed on the White House lawn, the notion of a Palestinian state has driven much of the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic discourse. Until the early 1990’s, the idea of establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel was anathema to much of the Israeli populace. However, with the outset of the first Intifada and the apparent PLO acceptance of Israel’s right to exist in 1988, support for Palestinian statehood began to gain traction in Israel and abroad.

From the signing of the Oslo Accords until the beginning of the second Intifada in September 2000, Palestinian statehood became an accepted norm among much of the Israeli political community, in the United States and throughout Europe. There has, of course, always been a vocal opposition to Palestinian statehood from the Israeli right; but, since Oslo, this opposition has often found it difficult to make inroads in public opinion. However, since the outbreak of the second Intifada and especially since the political rise of Hamas, opposition to Palestinian statehood has increased.

Both the United States and Israel have declared that they favor the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza and large areas of the West Bank. Presumably the Palestinian Authority would like to rule over a Palestinian state, but is it capable of taking the reins of a full-fledged state?

Issue of the Week is continued below

Israel Rebuffs Palestinian Unity Government by Scott Wilson

The Israeli cabinet voted Sunday to limit future talks with even moderate Palestinian officials to shared security and humanitarian concerns, ruling out a formal peace process until the new Palestinian government recognizes Israel and renounces violence. In officially rejecting the Palestinian unity government that was sworn in over the weekend, the cabinet also stated that "Israel expects the international community to maintain the policy it has taken over the past year of isolating the Palestinian government." (Washington Post)

Israel Second in the World in Internet Use

Israel ranked second only to Canada in the average amount of hours spent online, comScore Networks has reported. Canadian surfers spend 39.6 hours a month online while Israeli web users are a close second at 37.4 hours/month. South Korea came in third with 34 hours/month followed by the U.S. (31.6), the UK (31.2), Chile (30.9), Brazil (30.2), Finland (28.7), Spain (27.9) and Sweden (27.5). (Jerusalem Post)

Death Cult Family Moments from Hamas TV

In a stomach-turning video clip from Al Aqsa TV (the Hamas television station) broadcast on March 8, 2007, the children of female suicide bomber Rim Al-Riyashi talk happily about their mother’s act of mass murder. See MEMRI TV. (Little Green Footballs)

Blood Brothers by Yaniv Berman

The blood the Druze have spilled for the sake of Israel has made them an integral part of Israeli society. The Druze, a minority within the Israeli Arab minority, consists of approximately 104,000 people. "We, the Druze, have stood by the Jewish people since the State of Israel was established," says Amal Na'sr A-Din, the founder and chairman of Yad La-Banim Ha-Druzim, an organization for the remembrance of Israel's fallen Druze soldiers. The building in which pictures of 344 fallen Druze soldiers hang on the wall, represents in itself the strong bond. Their Arab culture and tradition on the one hand, and their proximity to the Israeli Western society on the other, are consistently colliding. The young men who serve in the army are the ones most affected. (The Media Line)

Israel, U.S. Test Missile Defense by Aron Heller

Thousands of American and Israeli troops conducted an operation Sunday to test new ways of intercepting missiles able to carry nuclear, chemical and biological warheads, American and Israeli military officials said. Israel and the U.S. are concerned that Iran could be developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles able to threaten Israel. But both sides said the timing of the operation in southern Israel's Negev Desert was routine and unrelated to those fears. Military officials said Israel's air defense artillery brigade and the U.S. Army Corps' 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade were taking part in the drill. (Anchorage Daily News)

Aid to Palestinians Rose in 2006 Despite an Embargo
by Steven Erlanger

Despite the international embargo on aid to the Palestinian Authority since Hamas came to power a year ago, significantly more aid was delivered to the Palestinians in 2006 than in 2005, according to official figures from the United Nations, United States, European Union and International Monetary Fund. Instead of going to the Palestinian Authority, much of the money was given directly to individuals or through independent agencies like the World Food Program.

One side effect of the redirected aid, some officials said, is that while starvation has been avoided, institutions are withering and a culture of dependence is expanding. (New York Times)

Dog Tags for Israel by Jesse Leon

This past summer, war again reared its ugly head in Israel after the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev, and Gilad Shalit - and the IDF in defense of our people suffered numerous losses.

In the spirit of Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh Lazeh, "all Jews are responsible for each other," the HANC Jewish Poor Committee has produced dog-tags to honor and support all Israeli soldiers. These dog-tags are engraved with the Hebrew words Chayalei Tzahal Libeinu Itche, "Soldiers of Israel, our hearts are with you."

The money raised from the sale of the tags will go to the Yeshivat Hesder of Sderot which combines Torah study and military service. Hesder students from across the country have emerged as some of the strongest and most committed soldiers in the IDF, and Sderot’s students are no exception. Sderot lies just a kilometer from the Gaza strip and since the beginning of the Intifada, Palestinian terrorists have been launching Qassam rockets daily at Sderot

HANC students feel that in these turbulent times that there is no better way to support the troops defending our right to exist than to ensure that they have both a strong Torah and national base in their commitment to the State of Israel.

Anyone interested in purchasing dog-tags to support this worthy cause can contact HANC’s Jewish Poor Committee at israeldogtags@gmail.com.

Jesse Leon is a senior at HANC, The Hebrew Academy of Nassau County. Pictured are Emanuel Karmely (right) and Ethan Orenstein. (Special to Israel HighWay)

A Pluralistic Israeli School and its NJ Supporters Celebrate a Long-Awaited Educational Milestone by Gil Hoffman

United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ has partnered with the four-year-old school Meitarim in Raanana and others modeled after it as part of the fund-raising organization’s efforts to facilitate religious pluralism in Israel, allocating $81,500 over the past few years. As of Aug. 31, Meitarim has attained a milestone, receiving full recognition by the Israeli Education Ministry, which only rarely recognizes schools that are neither "secular" nor Orthodox. The recognition will allow the school to benefit from the ministry’s educational supervision, training, and faculties and enable Meitarim students in 10th grade and younger to take state-mandated matriculation tests within an official framework.

"This school gives you the freedom to choose your own way," one student, Artzi said. "It allows people to build their own personality, which wouldn’t happen in a normal school. No one forces the religion on you but it becomes a part of you naturally. They teach you different sides of Judaism so you see the beauty in it." (New Jersey Jewish News)

Tourists Help Excavate Ancient Holy Land Caves

Deep in a 2,000-year-old tunnel system outside Jerusalem, a young woman unearthed a rare oil lamp used in ancient rituals during an archaeological dig. For Abby Krewson, the discovery is especially gratifying: Krewson is a 10th-grader from Philadelphia participating in a "dig for a day" archaeological experience with her family and a Bible college group.

Tourists can do a dig in Israel's Bet Guvrin National Park, about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem. Ian Stern, director of Archaeological Seminars, which is licensed by the Israeli government to do archeological digs, said about 30,000 to 50,000 people pay to do the dig each year. Stern says the Holy Land dig draws all kinds of tourists in Israel, and has been especially popular with Christian tourists and Jewish youths visiting Israel for the first time on the "birthright" program. "We've provided more people with a personal contact with archaeology than anybody else in the world," Stern said. "It helps them connect to their roots." (AP/CNN)

A Teen’s Dreams of Science to Come True in Israel by Robert Wiener

For six weeks this summer, Evelyn Litwinoff (pictured) will be living not just one, but two of her dreams. On June 25, she set off for Jerusalem for the first time to study her favorite subject, microbiology, on the campus of Hebrew University. She was one of 30 American teenagers selected for a summer internship program called Legacy Heritage for Young Scientists. The students are assigned to individual mentors at the university’s Belmonte Center laboratories. "When I heard about this program I thought it was perfect - everything all in one," she said two days earlier as she prepared for her six weeks overseas. (New Jersey Jewish News)

Local Teen Departs for Reform Movement Year Program in Israel
by Johanna Ginsberg

Jillian Abramson (pictured), 18, of Montclair, departed on Sept. 9, for Carmel, a Reform movement year program in Haifa. Abramson, who graduated from Montclair High School in June, is one of seven students participating in the three-year-old program. Once the province of the Orthodox, the so-called "gap-year" programs are becoming more popular among other Jewish streams. Students enrolled in Carmel study secular subjects at the University of Haifa and religious topics at the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa. Asked what she will miss most when she leaves for Israel, she could think only of her dog, Axel, a 110-pound animal she calls "my puppy" in soft tones. Mostly, she said, she can’t wait to get back to Israel. (New Jersey Jewish News)

Film Highlights the Life of Fallen 'Lone Soldier' by Jared Shelly

Michael Levine, the 22-year-old native of Holland, Pa., was the only "lone soldier" from the United States killed during the war in Lebanon last summer. In Levin's case, he voluntarily joined, and was not drafted. His story, which sparked international news coverage, is the source of a new documentary. Titled "A Hero in Heaven," the film tells the young man's story through 45-minutes of still photos, home movies and interviews that move from his childhood to his enlistment in the IDF. Partially sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the finished product will be part of an educational package intended to be sent to Hebrew schools and synagogues around the country, according to Mark Levin. "We'd like to believe this is not the end of Michael's story," his father relayed to the crowd, and "just the beginning." (Jewish Exponent)

The Great Mideast Pretenders by Jackson Diehl

Rice's aides insist that she's serious about her diplomacy. Yet it's hard to resist the notion that it's mainly aimed at an audience of one: Saudi King Abdullah, for whom Palestinian statehood is a deeply felt cause.

You might think that talking about the parameters of peace can't do any harm. But history shows that it can. President Clinton's push for a peace deal at the end of his presidency raised expectations that, when dashed, helped produce the bloody Israeli-Palestinian warfare that followed. Some Israeli officials fear a repeat: When nothing comes of the Saudi initiative or Rice's political horizon, Hamas will have the justification it needs to launch the war-in-waiting in Gaza. There's also the opportunity cost. Instead of talking about final borders and refugees, Olmert, Abbas and Rice might usefully be cutting deals that would ease conditions for average Palestinians in Gaza, release prisoners on both sides, solidify the cease-fire - and maybe head off that war. Isn't that better than make-believe? (Washington Post)

No Aid to Terror Editorial

To many observers, the discussion over whether the new Hamas-led Palestinian unity government has adhered to the Quartet's conditions may seem like a semantic debate. The Palestinian's claim that their promise to "respect" past agreements implies fulfillment of all three conditions: accepting past agreements, renouncing terrorism and recognizing Israel's right to exist. All, however, is not in the eye of the beholder; the problem is not just the new government's insufficient words, but the aggressive actions behind them.

It is indisputable that Hamas is employing the current cease-fire to prepare for a Hizbullah-style war with Israel. Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin recently told the Knesset that Hamas had smuggled in 31 tons of military-quality explosives, six times as much as was brought in during previous terrorism offensives against Israel. Hamas's actions speak even louder than its words, which also leave little to the imagination. Accordingly, the reasons the Quartet cut off relations with the PA in the wake of the formation of the first Hamas-led government are as valid as ever.

The Quartet should tighten sanctions against the PA if it wants to work to stop the countdown to the next war. (Jerusalem Post)