Soccer Dad

An ignatius mess

(h/t Media Backspin)

In Palestinian Security Paradox, David Ignatius writes:

Security is the magic word. No peace deal will work until the Palestinians are able to provide security that Israelis can trust. But right now, people are paying lip service to this idea rather than actually helping the Palestinians build a credible force.

If Annapolis is to be anything more than another exercise in frustration, Americans, Israelis and Palestinians should face this problem directly. The peace conference is premised on expectations about security that are unrealistic and can't be fulfilled. If the Israelis really want the Palestinians to take more responsibility for curbing terror and maintaining order, they will have to allow them the resources and training to learn how. That's risky, but the alternative is permanent Israeli occupation, which nobody wants.

The new Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, understands that Israelis want evidence of security in exchange for creating a Palestinian state. So this month he deployed 300 members of his National Security Forces to Nablus, the biggest and toughest city in the West Bank. He wants them to impose order, as the Israelis demand. But so far, the Israelis have hindered parts of this effort.

It's easy for Ignatius to blame Israel for failing to give the Palestinians too much leeway in creating their own security forces. It's easy, because he doesn't look at the record.

In the past specially trained Palestinian security forces have been shooting and robbing Israelis. The training they received did nothing to change their motivation to harm Israel. Why a new crop might be more committed to ensuring security for Israel instead of fostering even more insecurity is a very good question.

Given the record, Israel's caution is prudent.

UPDATE: via buzztracker

Prairie Pundit offers a rebuttal, the key sentences are:

The Palestinians have never demonstrated commitment to stopping other Palestinians who are intent on murdering Israelis. That is why there has never been a real chance for peace.

David Frum writes:

Hey, here's a wild suggestion: What if we tried the other way around? What if we said to the Palestinians - OK, you want the benefits of peace? A state, a well-paid civil service supported by lavish foreign aid, jobs at the United Nations for the nephews of your president for life? Great. Make peace. Your soldiers want to be trusted? Great. First let them show themselves trustworthy.

It's a line picked up by Noah Pollak who also wrote:

Arafat’s goons did not work toward establishing a Palestinian state. They didn’t serve the Palestinian people or attempt to impose law and order. These men worked for Yasir Arafat, and only for Arafat, in order that he could more thoroughly solidify his corrupt autocracy. The things Ignatius mentions—Israeli security concessions, or the latest package of aid money, or American support—have all been tweaked and modified and adjusted countless times. A competent security service, be it police or military, must be possessed of a unity of purpose and must show dedication to a mission. It is precisely these cultural components that have been so elusive when it has come to the role that Palestinian security services have played in the many abortive attempts at creating a Palestinian state. The only Arab security forces in recent history that have displayed any such qualities are those of Islamist groups such as Hamas and Hizballah.

(Pollak also quotes from and links to Daniel Polisar's classic "Arafat and the myth of legitimacy" which is well worth reading in its own right.)

One thing these critiques of Ignatius point to is a lack of Palestinian performance when it comes to their obligations towards Israel. Given this lack of performance it's worth recalling that "the roadmap" was officially called A Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

As long as the Palestinians won't perform, there will be no peace. Changing the terms of the Roadmap, or asking for more Israeli "confidence building measures" or anything else simply avoids the central problem.

Crossposted on Yourish.

israel.