Sir, – Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has explicitly rejected any possibility of a Palestinian state in the future, insisting that Israel intends to retain “security control of all territory west of the Jordan (river)” (”Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu tells US he opposes creation of Palestinian state after Gaza conflict”, World, January 19th).
This dismissal of Palestinian statehood will surprise few as it is consistent with Mr Netanyahu’s longstanding position, and chimes with the ongoing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but it will surely cause difficulties for the US and EU, which have long advocated the “two-state solution” suggested in the Oslo Accords. That desired objective has often provided a convenient mantra for Ireland and other European states, in particular, to fall back on when refusing to enact sanctions against Israel. And this amid vague talk of a “peace process” that in practice has been used by Israel primarily as a pacification and control mechanism. Ireland, the EU and the “international community” clearly need to develop a very different approach to the Israeli state if they sincerely support political rights for Palestinians. – Yours, etc,
FINTAN LANE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Following marauding attacks in the Red Sea, current European political opinion suggests Israel should favour international and regional interests by agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza. Those observers wish to avoid spreading the Gaza war and conflict with Iran must be avoided.
The total destruction of Israel as an ultimate goal of Iran is surely common knowledge. Over time, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Gaza and Yemen have become springboard satellites of Iranian foreign policy. In all of those places tens of thousands have died needlessly and living conditions have been reduced to rubble. This is of no concern to Iran, which treats even its own people with contempt and is now practising its missile capability on Pakistan. This anti-western standpoint is augmented by the provision of arms by Iran to another ideologically enclosed state, Russia.
Israel knows it is at war. Playing Pollyanna from the edge of Europe has no basis in reality. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE TANNAM,
Dublin 24.