A country without borders

A country cannot exist indefinitely without complete borders, even if its
sovereignty is recognized. Israel is one of the few countries in the world
with this impediment. It had no recognized borders, only ceasefire lines,
until the Israel-Egyptian peace treaty was ratified in 1979, the Jordanian
peace treaty likewise in 1994, and the Lebanese border was ratified by
the UN in 2000. That leaves the Syrian and Palestinian borders that
remain to be delineated.
There is not likely to be any progress on the Syrian front while Pres. Bashar
Assad refuses to negotiate with Israel over the Golan Heights, which Israel
has annexed. So Israel is content to leave the situation as it is,
particularly since the Syrian Government is under pressure by the US for its
involvement in allowing insurgents to enter Iraq and for sheltering Saddam
Hussein loyalists and possibly WMD.
That leaves the crucial border with the Palestinians. Israel itself was
instrumental in founding the Palestine Authority in order to provide them with
an independent entity short of Statehood. Now under Pres. Bush, Israeli
Governments have endorsed the idea of a two state solution, that was the
original concept of the UN Partition Plan in 1948. But, with the election of
Hamas as the Government of the PA, an organization that has engaged in
terrorism against Israeli civilians, that is recognized as a terrorist
organization by the Quartet and many other countries in the world, the
question of the borders becomes moot. Because the Government of the
PA does not recognize Israel and is committed to a single Islamic State in
all of Palestine.
But, the question arises, if the PA does not recognize Israel and does not
endorse previous negotiated agreements (not that Arafat kept any agreements),
then what is the status of the PA itself. Its borders could be regarded as
nonexistent. But, instead of putting pressure on the PA, Ehud Olmert's Kadima
Party is preparing to establish a new Government committed to Israeli
withdrawal from the West Bank. Call it "convergence," call it "disengagement"
or call it "capitulation," by any name its a withdrawal in face of terrorist
control of the PA in the West Bank and Gaza.
When haggling in a Middle Eastern bazaar, one is advised never to reveal up
front the final terms that one is prepared to accept. But, in this respect
Israel is acting as if it is dealing with rational Western countries. Dealing
with an Arab Muslim extremist entity, committed to our destruction, there is
no reason on earth why Israel should withdraw unilaterally and give up in
any way the advantage to them, either physically or psychologically. However,
in light of the Israeli election results I am afraid that that is what the
Israeli Government will be doing. So the borders will be decided according
to our interests, but they will likely become only the starting point for
future negotiations.