Turmoil in Syria and Egypt is nudging Israelis and Palestinians toward peace, a U.S. official said on Friday as Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Europe for talks about that conflict and a possible U.S. strike on Syrian targets.Right now, the PA security forces and the IDF manage to keep the Islamists at bay in the West Bank. If there would be a Palestinian Arab state, however, the IDF couldn't help any more and the chances for an Egyptian or Tunisian-style Islamist revolution would increase. Unlike in Egypt, there is little enthusiasm for the PA security forces' pre-emptive arrests of Islamists in most of the territories.
A senior U.S. State Department official said Syria’s civil war, as well as upheaval in Egypt, whose army ousted Islamist Mohamed Mursi, its first freely elected president, gives Israelis and Palestinians an incentive to end their conflict.
“Both sides have made clear to us and to each other that they do not want the turmoil to engulf them and that therefore it motivates them to try to resolve their conflict to prevent that from happening,” the official told reporters with Kerry.
As I have noted, right now there is more stability in Israel and the territories than there has ever been since the first intifada. There is zero evidence that a "peace agreement" would continue that. The status quo is exactly what is keeping the turmoil out!
And, of course, there is that little sector called Gaza that shows what (democratically elected) Islamist-ruled Palestinian areas would look like.
Maybe this official is trying to spin the facts, or maybe Israeli and PLO officials are telling the Americans what they want to hear. But the statement as quoted is nonsensical.
Anyone worried about the PLO-controlled areas turning into Syria should be against "peace talks."
