Just in case some readers think I may have exaggerated the current consensus of Israelis' feelings, (in earlier blogs) we now have the statement from our newspaper of record. On 5/28 on the NYTimes editorial page, writer Andres Martinez says the following: “The prevailing Israeli sentiment runs something like this: Take your territories. and let us wall them off so we never have to deal with each other again.”
Martinez goes on to report that the latest Intifada reduced the Palestinian GNP by more than 40% and made Palestinians the largest recipients per capita of UN welfare payments.
I won’t comment on this, since it is inconceivable to me that any group of people on the planet could watch their family, tribe, co-workers and friends deliberately do this to themselves.