Best laid plans

- Rafah is at the southern end of the Gaza Strip - Rafah

Rebuffing Biden, cabinet rejects unilateral Palestinian state as ‘reward for terrorism’

Israel’s cabinet on Sunday unanimously approved a declaration rejecting “international diktats” seeking to push Palestinian statehood, in the wake of reports that the US and several Arab partners were preparing a detailed plan for a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians that includes a “firm timeline” for a Palestinian state.

“Israel utterly rejects international diktats regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians,” the cabinet decision read. “A settlement, if it is to be reached, will come about solely through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.

“Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” the motion added. “Such recognition in the wake of the October 7th massacre would be a massive and unprecedented reward to terrorism and would foil any future peace settlement.” ...

I think people in the Biden administration have lost all perspective on this subject. This shouldn't be about getting Biden re-elected by smoothing over the Israeli problem with his pro-Palestinian base, and I say this as a lifelong liberal Democrat.

A few things ...

- It may be convenient to cast Netanyahu as the bad guy ... that way you can say that you aren't against the Israeli people, just their misguided leader .... but the truth is, most of the Israeli Cabinet and most of the Israeli people do not now, mere months after a horrific terrorist attack, want to think about a 2 state solution.

- It may be convenient to set up the continuing war ... a ground offesive in Rafa ... as impossible. Then, of course, all that's possible is an end to the war. Last night on The PBS Newshour, one of their reporters said "There is no place for the civilians in Rafah to go". But that is not true. It's been reported in the news thar rhe Israelis are working on a plan to create a safe space on the coast or in the area between Rafah and Khan Yunis for civilians, with safe corridors to travel there.

- It may be convenient to skip to the end and say that the best solution is to end thr war and give everyone some goodies .... a state for the Palestinians, Arab allies for the Israelis, money and power for the Saudis ... but it's not just about goodies, it's about murdered loved ones, hostages still in captivity, religious extremism, betrayals and long lasting hatreds.

- And it may be just tedious to wait wait wait for Israel to accomplish its goal of getting rid of Hamas, but it's only been months since the war began. Imagine us a few months after 9/11 .... if the other countries of the world told us to get over it, what would we have done? We didn't get over it, we went around the world and started a war that lasted 20 years, actually getting other countries to join and help us. I'm not saying that was a good thing, just that it happened. See US War in Afghanistan Fast Facts

- I don't think Israel will stop the war until it gets rid of Hamas. We may try to threaten them, we may stop giving them weapons, but we can't actually stop them from fighting. So we should help them instead. Help make it safer for the civilians, help the weapons to be more precise, help the goal to be accomplished as soon as possible. Then figure out what to do on the day after on the day after.

The Wall Street Journal: Taking Rafah Is Essential to Defeat Hamas