In your May 31 issue, Max Lazar criticized Rabbi Schneier for urging the Israeli prime minister to make some concessions for the sake of a lasting and just peace with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza (“Rabbi Schneier misguided on Arab proposal”).
Mr. Lazar considers any proposed compromise by Israel to be a “capitulation.” He’s content with the status quo, where he says “there is peace.”
But this “peace” is illusory. It’s simply based on Israel’s overwhelming military strength, which enables the occupation of the Palestinian lands to continue. The continuing, and illegal, expansion of Jewish settlements in the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem and the West Bank is just making a very bad situation worse. This course is clearly not sustainable in the long run if for no other reason than demographics, not to speak of its glaring injustice.
Yes, Rabbi Schneier, Israel needs a Sadat, but they don’t have one in the prime minister’s office. That is the tragedy.
—David Steinberg
