Palestinians Just Want Land, Not Peace

Much of the world swooned over Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' bid for statehood at the UN because it buys into the misconception that Israel is stubbornly standing in the way of peace, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post. Far from it. The Palestinians have rejected three land-for-peace offers over the last decade, he writes. Why? Because all three deals called for a "final peace agreement that accepted a Jewish state," and that will never happen.

"The key word here is 'final,'" he writes. Palestinians want "anything but a treaty that ends the conflict once and for all—while leaving a Jewish state still standing." That's why Abbas went to the UN: "to get land without peace," writes Krauthammer. He wants an independent Palestine and with it an unending war. After all, "territorial disputes are solvable; existential conflicts are not." Full column here. (More Israel and Palestinians stories.)