mac, I didn't mean lumping them together - I mean for Jordan (and Egypt) to give land for a sovereign Palestinian State.

A key issue is the Israelis will always be suspicious that someone will have a go at them at some time. Perhaps it is better to maintain and contain their conflict as they currently do?

#mac

You ask:

"What kind of polity is a 'Jewish State',does it have something in common with neighboring Islamic states?"

Yes it does.Israel's current population is 20% Arab - mainly Islamic with a small Christian Arab population. Arabic is one of the two official languages in Israel.Israel has signed peace treaties with Jordan and Egypt.Islamic and Christian culture, religious festivals and customs are respected. Jews and Arabs are cousins. Its time they made peace not war.

I still believe the way to achieve this is for direct negotiations between Jordan and Israel to divide sovereignty of the West Bank between their respective States. This will to a very large degree restore the status quo that existed in June 1967 at the outset of the Six Days War. No Arab or Jew will have to leave his present home or business. Perhaps both Jews and Arabs together can then begin to make the region one of the most prosperous in the world.

Had the PA and Israel been able to achieve a resolution that would have been fine. But the last 17 years have shown this to be incapable of achievement.The current talks will go nowhere.

Jordan can succeed where the PA has been unable to do so. Ultimately this is going to have to occur if further war and bloodshed is to be avoided.

Yes it is time for a divorce from the PA and for Israel to woo another Arab partner for peace in the West Bank - Jordan.

David G states:

"Well, the Singer is back and his discordant song is still the same: "It's All The Palestinian's Fault."

Consider the following:
1. The Arabs rejected the Peel Commission recommendations in 1937 which would have created an independent Palestinian Arab state
2. The Arabs rejected the UN Partition Plan in 1947 which would have created an independent Palestinian Arab state.
3. The Arabs failed to create a Palestinian Arab State in the West Bank,Gaza and East Jerusalem between 1948-1967 when not one Jew lived there - the Jews having been driven out of their homes in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem by six invading Arab armies. This missed opportunity cannot now be remedied as 500000 Jews now live in the former Jordanian occupied territory having returned to settle there as they were legally entitled to do under article 6 of the Mandate and article 80 of the United Nations Charter.
4. The Arabs refused to negotiate with Israel on the future of the West Bank and Gaza between 1967-1993 after their loss by Egypt and Jordan to Israel in the Six Day War in 1967.
5. The Arabs refused offers by Israel to cede its claims in more than 90% of the West Bank and Gaza in 2001 and 2008.
6. Israel unilaterally evacuated its 8000 Jewish residents from Gaza in 2005 and received thousands of rockets as a thank you.
7. The Arabs are still not prepared to recognize Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people.

As Abba Eban once said - "The Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity"

That of course is their perfect right. But it has cost them and will continue to cost them - and the Jews - dearly.

Fair-minded, Australians! Please consider the following:

1. Since Israel was illegally created following WW2, the Israelis have made the lives of generations of Palestinians a complete misery.
2. Since 1967 all of the Palestinians have been under brutal occupation.
3. The Israelis have, since 1967, continued to build settlements on Palestinian land which is illegal and created Jew-only roads.
4. The Israelis have, since 1967, continued to demolish Palestinian homes and forced them to wait endlessly at check-points even to the point of children being born there.
5. The Israelis have broken up Palestinian farms, destroyed crops and olive trees, and built concrete walls which separate families and communities.
6. The Israelis have forced Palestinians who live in East Jerusalem out of their homes and left them in the street surrounded by their belongings.
7. The Israelis have shot stone-throwing children with both rubber-coated bullets and live rounds and Israeli snipers have head-shot Palestinian children who were playing outside their homes.
8. The Israelis the Xmas before last, bombed Gaza killing more than 1,400 Gazans among whom were 400+ children. Since the bombing, which involved the use of phosphorous shells, the Gazans have been under siege and for much of the time have been deprived of food and medical aid. The Israelis have also bombed Lebanon causing many casualties and much destruction.
9. The Israelis have imprisoned many Palestinians without charge and recent reports show that the Israelis have sexually molested some of their young prisoners.
10. The Israelis have refused right of return and have showed no inclination to pay compensation to the Palestinians for the nightmare they have been forced to endure, a nightmare that has robbed them of all hope and justice.

It's no wonder Palestinians hate Jews and don't want to accord them recognition. If I'd been forced to endure what the Palestinians have over decades, I'd probably hate them too!

McReal,

OK, however, I can't think of any moral or political imperative that requires the Egyptians or Jordanians to surrender their sovereign territory to create a Palestinian state. It's not their responsibility.

David Singer,

Your 'Jewish State' sounds like the usual western liberal democratic society, I'm still perplexed as to why Israel is classified as a 'Jewish State'. There seems to be some unstated implications in the term.

You mentioned restoring the status quo ante 1967 by 'dividing the sovereignty of the West bank' between Jordan and Israel and that 'No Arab or Jew will have to leave his present home or business'. Are you suggesting a condominium or a border drawn somewhere? What of the 'settlers', if there's to be a border, is it at the limit of Jewish settlement on the West bank?

In your reply to David G "Consider the following" you listed some Palestinian 'failings' in rejecting partition of their country, they have a pefect right to have done so, in a just world their decision would have ended Zionist colonisation. People have a right to resist invasion.
That said, I'm not defending the hare-brained decisions of the Palestinian political elites, who for reasons of their own, refuse to acknowledge that Israel is here to stay. I also wish supporters of Israel wouldn't automatically claim the moral high ground.

@ mac: of course it's not their responsibility. It probably was the Brits when they were the imperialists 70-150 years ago.

Those countries probably wouldn't have to give up much, tho'.They both probably have no go areas near their Israeli borders, anyway - especially Egypt with all those tunnels, etc.