a launching pad for thousands of rocket attacks against the civilians of southern Israel , despite knowing that Israeli responses would endanger the lives of innocent Palestinians . Israel ’ s skittishness over withdrawing from the West Bank should thus not be viewed as unfounded intransigence , but as an understandable reluctance to expose more Israelis to attacks launched from Palestinian territory .
Conclusion
In September 2008 , then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered 94 % of the West Bank to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas , with land swaps from Israel ’ s side of the Green Line accounting for nearly all of the remaining 6 %. President Abbas didn ’ t say no — he didn ’ t say anything at all . The refusal to even acknowledge Prime Minister Olmert ’ s bold offer has done a great deal to heighten Israeli skepticism of Palestinian intentions .
What , indeed , is the Palestinian national goal ? Do they , like the Zionist movement of the 19 th and 20 th centuries , seek to establish and build up a homeland ? Or , as many fear , are they only interested in the elimination of the Jewish state of Israel ?
American Jewish Committee ( AJC ) has long believed that Israeli settlement construction is inconsistent with the aim of a two-state solution . The continued expansion of West Bank settlements will make it increasingly difficult to draw contiguous borders of a Palestinian state . As the settler demographic continues to grow , both by birthrate and by new settlers moving to the West Bank , the number of Israelis who would have to be removed during a future disengagement rises as well . And as Israel expands its presence in the West Bank , it signals to the international community that it is unserious about the creation of a Palestinian state — which in turn leads to criticism from abroad that makes Israelis doubt whether the world stands by the Jewish state in the face of the geopolitical threats it faces . To close the vicious cycle , this perceived precariousness , in turn , makes Israelis less willing to compromise their security and support the creation a Palestinian state .