JUST SOMETHING NICE TO KNOW

JUST SOMETHING NICE TO KNOW

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NY POST -It didn’t get a lot of notice, but the government of French President Nicolas Sarkozy issued a statement last week that could have a profound effect on the prospects for Middle East negotiations.
That’s been a significant Israeli condition for years — that the Palestinians must recognize Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, thereby ending their claims on the entirety of Israel. Just as significantly, that’s something the Palestinians adamantly refuse to do. Juppe’s* statement makes France the first European nation to state publicly that any agreement must recognize Israel’s Jewish character.
That position has been opposed by Britain, Spain, Belgium and Ireland, among others — as well as by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton. And there is discord within the so-called Quartet — the US, the EU, the UN and Russia — over this condition.
Yet as Evelyn Gordon writes on Commentary’s blog, Sarkozy has “finally grasped that no agreement is possible without satisfying Israel’s minimum requirements” — which means demanding a concession from the Palestinians.
Clearly, the continued failure to recognize Israel’s Jewish character — the basis of its creation — is an open invitation to the dismantlement of Israel and its incorporation into an Arab state of Palestine. It’s long past time that someone in Europe injected reality into genuine Middle East peacemaking. Kudos to Sarkozy and Juppe for doing so.
Lately, there’s been a little surge in stories coming out of France that indicate a definite shift away from the extreme left. Could it be increasing pressure from the growing popularity of Marine Le Pen’s Right Wing anti-muslim immigrant party?

* Alain Juppé, Ministre d’Etat, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs
Speaking on behalf of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, FM Alain Juppe said, “There will be no solution to the conflict in the Middle East without recognition of two nation-states for two people, including the nation-state of Israel for the Jewish people.”