It is preferable to negotiate during the moments when one is strong. Israel is no exception to that truism. While it is still in a relatively strong position, Israel has more leverage to obtain concessions it feels it needs to assure its long term survival as a Jewish state. While it is still relatively strong, it is more able to offer concessions demanded by Palestinians without facing existential risks.
Israel has seen many such moments only to waste them. Now is another such moment, and it may well be the last for a very long time. Thanks to the Gulf War and the current American operations in Iraq, for the time being Iraq lacks the military strength to endanger Israel. While Iran certainly relishes the thought of attacking Israel, it does not yet have the military capability to do so. For the moment Jordan and Egypt still are abiding by their peace agreements with Israel, and the Arab League peace proposal is still on the table. All that is likely to change in the future, and the current revolution in Egypt may shorten that future to a matter of months.
The Obama administration asked the Israeli government to completely freeze all settlement construction in all occupied territories in order to facilitate negotiations to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With the Arab League peace proposal still on the table, that was tantamount to offering Israel the ticket to recognition and normalization of relations with all of its Arab neighbors, a destination Israel has dreamed of for all six decades of its existence. Israel responded by publicly announcing additional construction in East Jerusalem, and did so while the American vice president was in Israel - a slap in the face of the American efforts. Then it compounded that insult by refusing Obama’s request for a total settlement freeze and offered only a partial construction slowdown instead. Then it refused to extend even that slowdown. It is hard to imagine another Israeli response that would have been more counterproductive to Israel’s long term interests than that was.
Iraq will not be crippled forever. Sooner or later Iran will obtain weapons capable of reaching Israel. Egypt will soon no longer be so cooperative in helping to keep major weapons our of Gaza. When Tunisia’s Jasmine revolution spreads beyond Egypt, the Arab League peace offer is likely to be withdrawn. There is no military solution to Israel's legitimate security concerns. The only long term solution is a diplomatic one that also addresses the legitimate concerns of Palestinians. Only that has any chance to reduce the animosity of the Arab street towards the State of Israel. And, the first step is an Israeli – Palestinian peace agreement. But, time is running out,. Israel can no longer afford never to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
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