One Hard Truth, Hold the Rancor, Please

Mike Daley found this editorial reading Ha’aretz today. Leave it to the Israelis to make hard sense:

If the suicide bombings are meant to spur Israel to move in this direction [of granting a state to Palestine], the Palestinians – both the murderers and those who encourage them – are guilty not just of crimes against Israeli civilians but also of being locked in a bitter folly as far as their own interests are concerned. Terror cannot be the route leading to a sovereign Palestinian state. Instead, terror is a substitute for such a state and an obstacle on the road to creating it. Granted, terrorist attacks could lead Israel to change its policy – however, the change will be in the direction of escalation, not capitulation. The average Israeli will not conclude that the Palestinians, who are prepared to blow themselves up as they kill children, women and elderly persons, have “purchased” their right to a state. Instead, the average Israeli will come to a very different conclusion, namely, that terrorism will continue to strike out at Israel even from within such a state and that it would therefore be better to prevent the creation of that state altogether. A peace treaty acquired through terror will never usher in peace because the side that has acquired a treaty through terror will aspire to increase its gains by means of additional terror.

There’s not much left to say.