Netanyahu Won't Return to '67 Borders

From the J-Post:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denied on Tuesday an official’s remarks that Israel had agreed to resume peace talks based on the borders of a Palestinian state being drawn along lines from before a 1967 Middle East war, and agreed land swaps.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Netanyahu, said “the report is untrue,” calling Reuters with the statement after initially declining to comment on what the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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Three points for the soft-headed dreamers out there who think that all Israel needs to do is return to her ’67 borders and then all would be fine.

• Israel’s Arab neighbors were happy to try and push Israel into the sea back before 1967. It was those failed efforts that caused Israel to occupy lands outside of the ’67 lines.

• For safety reasons, Israel simply must hold on to at least small bits of the West Bank, especially now that the Arab world is devolving away from nation-states and into tribal, religious, and ethnic fiefdoms. The days of strongmen maintaining order within their own borders is over (See: Iraq, Syria, Egypt).

• Israel can’t let go of Golan, because it gives them strategic depth in rugged terrain over an historic invasion route. And anyway, who is there is Syria with the authority to take it back? Baby Assad? A “nice” rebel group? Al Qaeda? Fuggidaoubbit.

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Surely, there’s room to negotiate. Israel tried — tried — to give the Palestinians 93% of everything they wanted about a dozen years ago, only to have Arafat rebuff them, then go on to launch another terror campaign. But they need an honest negotiating partner, and that’s one thing SecState Kerry can’t seem to rustle up, no matter how many trips he makes to the region.

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