Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel wants to keep its troops on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state.
Palestinians reject the idea and have proposed an international force along the West Bank's border with Jordan as part of a peace deal.
| Bring out the mighty Uruguayans! |
| Let me suggest a compromise: Israeli troops on the Israeli side of the border, UN troops stationed on the Palestinian side of the border. They can have a swath 500m wide along the entire length, to give them room for a road and cantonments for the various countries' units, who don't mix well. A wall on the far side to protect Palestinian girls (and boys) from the depredations of the men would be wise, too. Suha Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas ought to volunteer to pay for the wall out of their private accounts, "as a gift to the new nation." |
Netanyahu told US Jewish leaders in a conference call on Monday that "the only force that can be relied on to defend the Jewish people is the Israeli Defence Force."
Netanyahu says an international force can't ensure Israel's security. He fears Palestinian militants will attack Israel from within a Palestinian state if Israeli troops are withdrawn from the West Bank-Jordan border.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas maintains that an Israeli troop presence would infringe upon Palestinian sovereignty. |