Israeli Arabs need new leadership

The riot in Acre is the major event of this past week. Even if this turns out to be an isolated event, which does not spread or last long, as we hope, it exposes a difficult issue that no one is daring to deal with.

Truth be told, all Israel's governments except for one have discriminated against Israel's Arabs. Only Rabin's government, at his personal directive, employed a wise policy approach towards them. The gap in services between the Arab sector and the Jewish sector is enormous. Arab youths who graduate from university are kept from being accepted into government and public companies without any security justification. Many Arab villages are not included in overall planning and building projects which has caused a residential crisis and led to an increase of illegal construction in these villages. Under these conditions, fury and bitterness are inevitable.

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Keep up the pressure

The killing of a senior Islamic Jihad operative in the West Bank and the renewal of attacks on the western Negev last week only illustrated further the threat posed by Islamic terror.

These incidents brought to light the purpose of using targeted killings against senior operatives who are known to be carrying high-trajectory weapons aimed at our cities - we're not just talking about Sderot anymore and the areas in the western Negev, we are now also talking about our cities in the north.

In order to understand the answer, one must be aware of these fundamental facts:

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The new Gaza reality

The use of bombs to breach the border wall between Gaza and Egypt along the 'Philadelphi' route has a Hamas signature. The fact that the border is now completely open significantly changes the reality on the ground - a reality shaped by the IDF's exit and Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

From an economic perspective, the removal of the barrier holds no long-term importance. In the short-term, thousands of Gazans are able to purchase basic products at cheap prices at the Egyptian Rafah and Al-Arish. It will be "rejuvenating" for them to get out of Gaza, after the months of suffocation they underwent due to Hamas's rise to power and Israel's counter-measures since.

However, even if the border with Egypt remains open, Egypt cannot serve as the economic front that Israel had been for Gaza until last June. Poor Egypt is not an attractive destination for Gazan imports. The prices offered in Egypt for agricultural products and light industrial materials from Gaza would be much lower than the prices they would be able to obtain in Israel. No investments would be made in a Gaza run by Hamas and the destroyed private sector will not rise without economic relations with Israel. Even if this border breach is considered an achievement for Hamas, it cannot feed the 1.5 million people in Gaza.

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Two grave scenarios unfolding

Last week's most pressing event was undoubtedly President Bush's visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And not only because of the frustrating traffic congestion that gripped Jerusalem, the ceremonies, the dinners and the provincial bickering about who was invited and who was not.

This visit was vital for us Israelis in that the leader of the most powerful country in the world came and reminded us and the Palestinians of the importance and urgency of reaching a mutual agreement. Based on the cynical and mocking media reactions, one could have thought the conflict was Bush's problem and not ours. Alternatively, one could see Bush and Condoleeza Rice as a bothersome couple that pushes us to deal with an issue that perhaps holds no importance, for anyone.

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Annapolis - a true Zionist victory

The Annapolis conference is the most important political event of the year 2007. It was a success despite the doubts, the ridicules, and the attempts of those who are opposed to peace to derail it. Thanks to the security establishment's operations, no terror organization succeeded in carying out any significant planned attack.

The conference succeeded in three areas:

It was launched with a joint Israeli-Palestinian declaration. Even though the declaration had no guidelines for a permanent agreement, it did firmly commit both sides to open in serious negotiations.

The Arab world, including Saudi Arabia and even Syria, sent senior officials to the meeting, which conveys regional support of a peace agreement with Israel and general support for [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas.

The conference's end officially launched negotiations for a permanent status agreement. A date was set for commencement (December 2007) with a target date for completion thirteen months later. Ambitious but not impossible.