The day after Annapolis

by Daniel Pipes
Wed, 7 Nov 2007

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Question asked of Jerusalem Post columnists: "Which scenarios do you think would unfold in the event that the Annapolis parley fails?" For all replies, see "Burning Issues #43: The day after Annapolis"

The consequences of Annapolis failing depend on whom the U.S. government blames. If it basically faults the Palestinian side, as happened in 2000, then nothing much changes. The Palestinians enjoy an unlimited credit line. They can (as Abba Eban put it) "never miss a chance to miss a chance" and still get yet another chance.

But should the Bush administration primarily fault the Israeli side, watch out. In that case, I wrote last month in the Jerusalem Post, a possible crisis in U.S.-Israel relations of unprecedented proportions could result, one "worse than 1975 or even 1957. That's because, in part, the stakes are so high. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has stated that ‘the United States sees the establishment of a Palestinian state, a two-state solution, as absolutely essential to the future of not just Palestinians and Israelis but also to the Middle East and, indeed, to American interests.' If a Palestinian state is ‘absolutely essential … to American interests," whoever stands in its way will presumably pay a heavy price. U.S.-Israel relations are especially vulnerable these days, as elite American opinion has, in an unprecedented way, turned against Israel.

Related Topics: Arab-Israel conflict & diplomacy

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Reader comments on this weblog entry

Title	By	Date
Congrats to all comment writers. [220 words]	Ed Adams	Dec 4, 2007 05:58
Come Help Defend Jerusalem [521 words]	Edward Warmoth	Nov 15, 2007 20:02
↔ The Holy Site take-over [139 words]	Ed Adams	Nov 26, 2007 08:06
End of Palestine, End of Problem [407 words]	jennifer solis	Nov 10, 2007 17:59
↔ Take the Land away.. [203 words]	Ed Adams	Nov 26, 2007 08:27
↔ Which came first, the chicken or the jihad? [121 words]	jennifer solis	Dec 2, 2007 23:40
Perversity [28 words]	Brian H	Nov 10, 2007 07:57
↔ Perversity becomes Normal [14 words]	Ed Adams	Nov 26, 2007 08:32

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