"18 years ago in Oslo, Israel undertook to conduct talks in order to achieve a final-status agreement with the Palestinians, including the core issues, within five years. That, too, did not occur. Most of the provisions of the agreement have foundered since then - in the majority of cases because of Israel"(my emphasis)
I can only believe the Rabbi inserted the last phrase because he relies on the BBC and/or the Guardian for his information on the Middle East peace process or unfortunate lack of it.
The Oslo Accords required something from both parties the Arabs singularly failed to live up to their side of the bargain. In particular unlike Israel, not only did they fail to educate their people to a concept of two states for two peoples, but they have indoctrinated their children in pure unadulterated hatred of both Israel and the Jews thereby putting back the possibility of peaceful co-existence for further generations.
Even the Left in Israel which embraced the Oslo Accords wholeheartedly have been forced to admit that they were a miscalculation on Israel's part because of a genuinely but mistakenly held belief that Israel had a partner who was as interested in peace as Israel was and always has been.
For the Rabbi's information there is no mention of settlements in the Oslo accords. However there is a commitment by the Arabs to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure which continues to exist both in Gaza and Judea and Samaria and which led to the erection of the security barrier, which thankfully has saved countless Jewish lives, which I am sure the Rabbi will applaud.
It is, with respect, a complete wrong to say that Israel has said "no" to a Palestinian State - the facts plainly show the opposite. In 2000 Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians a state with east Jerusalem as its capital - in return Israel received the Intifida. In 2008 Ehud Olmert offered them a similar deal and Israel got thousands of rockets on Southern Israel in exchange. Benjamin Netanyahu has gone on record in endorsing the creation of a Palestinian State. He went further than any of his predecessors and implemented a moratorium on settlement building in order to encourage the Palestinians to come to the negotiating table - only to be rebuffed with pre-conditions the Arabs knew Israel could not and would not accept. However Israel has always believed that the creation of a Palestinian State must be by negotiation not at the whim of countries like Iran, North Korea, Syria, China, Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe - shall I go on?
But what I found absolutely incredulous in reading the Rabbi's sermon is the Rabbi's assertion that "We know that You (Hashem) cannot bring peace to Israel," for goodness sake it is a basic concept of Judaism that peace is bestowed upon us by the Almighty for which we pray daily. For example the the mourner's kaddish ends with the verse that reads "He who makes peace in His high places may He make peace for us and for all Israel". I for one pray for Hashem's peace daily it certainly does not require a stele or any other false idol for that.
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