October 31, 2015
With Israelis suffering from Palestinian attacks, Jackson Diehl joined those who fault Israel while ignoring a reality that Israel cannot.
The majority of the knife attacks, some fatal, have been committed by teenagers, some as young as 13. These children have been taught to hate by official Palestinian Authority media and school curriculums and lies from Palestinian Authority leaders, including the canard that Israel intends to change the status quo on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif and claims that Israel has fabricated stabbings.
Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s calls for an unconditional return to direct, bilateral negotiations and assurances that Israel has not and will not change the status quo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stokes the flames of hatred that inspire the Palestinian terrorism.
If there is to be peace, the violence must stop and Mr. Abbas must return to the U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations he abandoned in April 2014. Until then, Palestinian leadership is the obstacle to peace.
Alan Ronkin, Washington
The writer is director of the American Jewish Committee’s Washington office.
This article was originally published by Washington Post.