Op-Ed Contributor - An End to Israel’s Invisibility - NYTimes

Michael Oren, "An End to Israel’s Invisibility"
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, wrote an excellent Op-Ed in today's Times. He reiterates some of my sentiments from yesterday's post, but of course states it more forcefully.  He writes:

Affirmation of Israel’s Jewishness, however, is the very foundation of peace, its DNA. Just as Israel recognizes the existence of a Palestinian people with an inalienable right to self-determination in its homeland, so, too, must the Palestinians accede to the Jewish people’s 3,000-year connection to our homeland and our right to sovereignty there. This mutual acceptance is essential if both peoples are to live side by side in two states in genuine and lasting peace.

The core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been the refusal to recognize Jews as a people, indigenous to the region and endowed with the right to self-government. Criticism of Israeli policies often serves to obscure this fact, and peace continues to elude us. By urging the Palestinians to recognize us as their permanent and legitimate neighbors, Prime Minister Netanyahu is pointing the way out of the current impasse: he is identifying the only path to co-existence. 

The Palestinian leadership's refusal to recognize the historical, religious, international legitimacy of the modern State of Israel is indeed a major stumbling block to achieving peace.