RE “PEACE process harmed Israel’s reputation” (Op-ed, May 23): Jeff Jacoby has hit the nail on the head as he explains the increasing isolation of the Jewish state. Every concession by Israel has led to increased demands not only from Arab nations but from Palestinian Arabs. These are the same Arabs who lost the battles to destroy Israel.
Yet successive Israeli governments have tried to appease the aggressor and the loser. In retrospect, even the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai and the abandonment of the developed oil riches in that peninsula led only to an uneasy peace and now the probability that it will be invalidated by the new Egyptian government. The withdrawal from the security zone in Lebanon led to Hezbollah as a mortal enemy across the border.
Finally, the welcoming back of Yasser Arafat after the Oslo Accords only emboldened him to play a part in mounting two intifadas against the civilian population of Israel and, in a final blow to peace, emboldened the establishment of Hamas in Gaza with ensuing rocket attacks.
Now the Israeli government has expressed its desire to negotiate the withdrawal of further territory to an implacable foe dedicated to its destruction. Where is the logic?