L' Dead Times

Talk show host Dennis Prager attempts to explain the Israeli-Arab conflict. 

The conservative Prager, who did graduate work at the Middle East Institute at Columbia University, says that while many believe “the Middle East conflict is the most complex conflict in the world,” it is also “the easiest conflict in the world to explain.”

While Prager calls the conflict “simple,” he explains that it is difficult to solve for one fundamental reason: Most Arabs, including many Palestinians, “do not recognize the right of the Jewish state of Israel to exist.”

Prager’s assertion that “one side wants the other one dead” may be a bit strong, but the Hamas charter isn’t too far off:“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” 

So again, does that mean the Palestinians and other Arabs want all Israelis “dead”? Of course not, but it’s hard to envision Israel being “obliterated” without a tremendous loss of life.

The PLO – Palestinian Liberation Organization – recognized Israel as a state in 1993, although Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says the Palestinians will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

Various Muslim countries – Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, for example – have also recognized Israel’s right to exist. Others – Pakistan and Iran among them – have not. Throw in Hamas, al Qaeda and The Islamic State (formerly ISIS or ISIL), who are committed to Israel’s destruction, and the ever-present danger the Israelis face is clear.

Cease-fires between Israel and Hamas (along with Hezbollah) come and go, but what doesn’t go is the ultimate objective of the terrorists and their sponsors: the destruction of a country roughly the size of New Jersey. A country of 5 million Jews surrounded by 500 million Arabs, many of whom share Hamas’ goal.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin puts it, “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more ‎violence. If the Jews put ‎down their weapons ‎today, there would be no more Israel.”