The biggest threat to Israel's Jewish identity is demographic. The extremists of the settlers' movement--who for reasons of Israel's curious parliamentary system wield disproportionate power--serve as the single greatest threat to Israel's security, by insisting on colonizing land in the midst of large Palestinian majorities, leaving the latter on Bantustans that are economically unsustainable. Anybody remember the "independent" state of Ciskei? It was a lame attempt by the South African government to unload black citizens so they couldn't claim the vote. If Israel doesn't act SOON, it will indeed be a Jewish state with a largely non-voting Arab majority.... Like South Africa in the 80s. Since the single greatest moral advantage Israel has its influence over U.S. policy, which is amplified by memories of the Holocaust, Israel cannot afford to rely on Realpolitik indefinitely. Once it becomes clear that the hold of Israelis over "greater Israel" has no more moral legitimacy than that of Serbs over Kosovo, the entire enterprise of sustaining a Jewish state will collapse... as did the Afrikaaner state. The result would be a humanitarian catastrophe, with untold suffering for Jews and Arabs alike.

Deal, not sure how you can say "Since Palestinians entered the Oslo peace process with Israel in 1993, they haven't seen anything in return, except for a tripling in Israeli settlers, construction of modern Israeli-only highways, a 40% drop in Palestinian GDP, and draconian restrictions on movement".

Isn't this a little disingenuous. Doesn't giving up the Gaza strip count for anything?

The 40% drop in GDP may have something to do with Hamas' sole preoccupation being digging tunnels and supplying Katusha rockets to Gaza to fire into Israel at the expense of the economy. You haven't mentioned the huge amount of foreign aid that pours into Palestine which is being wasted on rocket attacks - this foreign aid is going to get exponentially larger thanks to Obama.

If you were an Israeli and observed the Palestinian reaction to your country's unilateral withdrawal and handover to them of part of it's territory, why on earth would you even consider giving up one more square inch of it, whether in the West Bank or elsewhere?

This aggression on the part of Hamas may have something to do with the "draconian restrictions on movement".

You mention that Palestinians in Israel live as "third class" citizens. Who are the second class citizens? Palestinians in Israel have representation in the Knesset, can protest, can vote, practice their religion, and live as free citizens. I doubt very much that any Jew living in the countries around Israel would be granted any of the above, in fact I doubt that many Jews do live there (willingly, at least).

And Palestinians recognize Israel, but they have trouble officially recognizing its character as "Jewish" because they fear the immediate practical impact on refugees, borders, and their already tenuous identity.

Dr. Hudson:

I hope this is not taken disrespectfully.

Are you familiar the Hamas charter?

What's bothering me about all these recent articles of yours is a) the complete and utter lack of any indication that you are aware of the persecution (historic, modern, and ever-increasing) of Christians in Palestine under sharia law, and b) an otherwise apparent obliviousness of orthodox Islamic teaching on jihad and dhimmitude and what ramifications that has for the Palestinian approach to any peace solution.

See:

"The Legacy of Jihad in Historical Palestine"

http://tinyurl.com/olekpg

http://tinyurl.com/p3y29g

and

"Harassment, Islamic Radicalism Drive Flight of Palestinian Christians":

http://tinyurl.com/pyu7pg

Vikram, I assume by this you mean Sharon's decision to remove the Israeli settlers from the Gaza strip. First of all, the settlements were there illegally. Secondly, the Gaza strip is still completely surrounded by the Israeli military, and, as you know, under an complete embargo. Thirdly, you have the 21-day military operation there, which last December-January killed so many civilians, especially children, that it threatened Israeli's status in the international community like nothing it had ever done before.

Give up the Gaza strip? That is hardly the case.

Since the inception of Israel, its neighbors and the Palestinian Arabs have never come to terms with its right to exist. From 1948-1967 Gaza and the West Bank were under Arab control and zero attempts were made to create a Palestinian state. Instead the hatred of the Palestinians against Israel was fostered with the PLO created in 1964 to "liberate" the land in Israel proper and to destroy Israel. In the Palestinian legislative elections of 2006, Hamas, an organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel, won a majority of seats. The Palestinian leadership will occasionally issue moderate sounding declarations in order to fool Westerners and increase aid, but the idea that the Palestinians will ever come to terms with Israel's right to exist is contradicted by the history of the conflict. The Israelis may come to believe that a complete withdrawal from the West Bank may be in their security interest, but I trust that they will not be foolish enough to believe that anything better than a continuing Cold War will ever exist between them and their Arab neighbors.

Eric, I am aware of both and much more. I am aware of what most Americans hear about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the threat of Hamas, the growth of Muslim terrorism, the rise in Muslim harassment of Christians, etc. My point in writing my series of articles is to add a dimension to the conversation that is often left out of the discussion. Thus, if I do not include some points in my short columns it is because I assume that most readers are already familiar with those factors and arguments, neither of which I intend to ignore.

It does not help the situation to draw black and white pictures, with the good guys on the one side and the bad guys on the other, because that is not the case. If I have done that, I will certainly attempt to avoid it in the future. It is good that Israel exists, and that it flourish into the future. But, as most Israelis realize, this is a problem that has to be solved diplomatically before it explodes into another war.

It has been said that demographics are destiny, and I think this is true with the Iraelis and Palestinians. Israel can refuse to deal in a meaningful way with the Palestinians, so long as the US provides unqualified and total support. Sooner of later however, the US will grow weary of our total support of the Isaelis and then things will change. Once US support begins to waiver, the Israelis must deal with the facts on the ground. The Israeli Lobby seems to think that unqualified and total American support will never end. THey seem to think that they can bully and bribe American politicians into doing what they are told. They will be in for a ruke awakening.

The Israelis have a window of opportunity to work something out, then they could be overtaken by events. I am begining to detect an air of desperation of the Lobby: the clock is ticking.

Still wondering how the newspapers would have reported the Israelites occupying The Promised Land all those years ago...there is no doubt a battle going on over this spot on the globe... I have a feeling it goes way beyond us and into the heavenlies. I don't think PEACE is going to be acheived by man... it is going to take DIVINE Intervention..... When we see HIS face, all the arguments will cease.

Deal, I recognize that you are moved deeply by the lives of the voiceless, and you hear their cries for help.... I wish there wasn't the real threat of Iran and others to totally wipe Israel off the map.... under that stress, if you look like my enemy, you are going to get shot!

I, too, have picked up my rosary.....

Deal, if completely vacating a portion of your country's land to another people that allows them the freedom to do as they like in that territory including firing thousands of rockets into your country as thanks for your gesture, if this isn't "giving it up", what is? Are you playing at semantics here?

You should also be aware that the Gaza strip is not as you say, "completely surrounded by the Israeli military", because the southwest border of Gaza is with Egypt. This is where the armaments including rockets are coming in from.

And do you think that perhaps the embargo might have something to do with the above hostile actions of Hamas? If you were being fired on by thousands of rockets by your neighbour would you build a highway to their territory or put up a fence?

I just saw on FOX News ticker that Netanyahu has definitively & verbally rejected a 2-party solution and most especially the desire of Palestinians to occupy a portion of East Jerusalem.

After 50 years captivity it seems clear that the Palestanians exhibit a victim mentality which they vigorously perpetuate & instill in their children. This was particularly evident during Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Refugee Camp last week. The ceremony was held in the courtyard of a school so the Heads of State & dignataries were "entertained" by politically motivated dances where the kids paraded big black keys symbolically representing the key to their sequestered homeland villages...of which many no longer exist. The presentations were passionate & seemed to have an urgent desperate tone to them.

The Pope suggested that there would have to be much forgiveness on both sides to foster peace, but how can that ever happen when the wound is constantly being inflamed & fanned from within by the culture?

The Arab States seem to use the Palestinians as pawns for brokered political power. Hamas & the people seem to have a disordered relationship where the people have become loyal to their persecuters/caregivers. They are treated as outcasts in the Arab world or at least as a lower caste population. They could care less about the civil rights of these people. Any peoples who resort to using women & children as human shields are not interested in allievating their sufferings. Islam talks of peace, but this doesn't seem to include everyone in their ethnic class.
That's been the sad problem with ancient tribal populations on any continent. Feuds, unforgiveness, lifetime grudges & warring. This is my humble perpective, as I don't claim any particular expertise or inside news resources.

Israel needs to stop erecting walls but the Palestinians need to stop shooting rockets into Israeli territories; especially schools. I agree with Mother of Two; Jesus is the Prince of Peace; the New Jerusalem; the New Temple..nothing worldly.

...Israeli Jews believe that God gave them that land and that is the end of it. Imagine a family having been evicted from their home long ago, and a new family moved in....years down the line, the descendents of the evicted family come back and assert their "claim" to it. Of course the new family who has had it for generations will want to fight back....and so here we are.

Since I strongly reject the notion that this Israel is the Biblical Israel, appeals to "The Covenant" don't sway me in the least. The Church is the new Israel, and if they wish to become part of "Israel" they need to accept Christ and become Christians. I look at what happened in the early 20th Century with a Historian's eye, not emotionalism brought on by a false theology. Israel is here and it isn't going away....the Palestinians need to accept that. The Israelis need to acknowledge the fact that they too have committed injustices, and that the Palestinians aren't going away either. Israel is on its way to becoming like the South Africa of old if it believes it can keep the Palestinians corralled and destitute like they are.

Lynn,
Would you consider that the Christians of eastern Europe exhibited a "victim mentality" after decades of oppression by atheistic Communism? They and the Palestinians both lack something called FREEDOM. If the Palestinian "politically motivated dances" strike us as somewhat strained and pathetic, are they any less so than "next year in Jerusalem" which seemed so distant for Jews not too long ago and which also required political action? Granted, the Arab states have used the Palestinians as ploys, although I don't think that argument can be seriously made since 9/11. Granted, Hamas has a "terrorist agenda." But none of this would have happened if the Jews had not constructed and maintain a blatantly racist regime and if the US had not given the Israelis carte blanche on virtually every demand since 1967. Pray for peace in the Midddle East. No change in US policy will accomplish anything at this point. The Obama-Netanyahu meeting reminded me of Kennedy and Kruschev in Vienna. Netanyahu has taken the measure of his man and determined (with the help of 76 US senators) that he can continue to build settlements, avoid negotiation with the Palestinians, wail about Iran, and we will continue to play ball his way.

It is difficult to be sympathetic towards the Palestinians in Israel because for generations, they have been the initiator of violent acts.

Gary,
I was simply making an observation on the existence of a victim mentality and not a negative comment against it. Of course, they do not possess freedom, but it seems that those who have a deep faith in Christ, although downtrodden by oppressive State regimes, have a kind of tenacity that non-Christians do not have. I'm thinking of the people of Poland and Russia who persevered under such tyranny. And even of Catholic priests in the German death camps. The Sudanese and others in Northern Africa on the otherhand seemed so downtrodden by their oppressors with no hope that their spirit was practically paralyzed. Ann Coulter even wrote a book about the victim mentality of the Liberal left in this Country...and we have more freedom going than most, but fast losing ground with the Obama administration's stranglehold on issues; "for our own good."
NATO is responsible for the establishment of an Israeli State. NATO has been making progressively bad policies for years. The Obama-Netanyahu meeting was critiqued by a body language expert who said that it didn't seem to go well for Obama; & that he would not look Netanyahu directly in the eye...which was very telling.
Yes, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. This means forgiveness of past injustices & wounds all around the table.