In his Jan. 26 JWR article, the Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby gave the activities of David Bedein, propagandist of the Israeli Right, an unfortunately uncritical write-up. Arafat probably hasn't invoked peacemaking to an Arab audience since the January turnover of Hebron, exactly the last time the peace process brought anything tangible to the Palestinians.
Peace is what Israel wants.
Or most of Israel, anyway. Some Israelis are convinced that peace is impossible, or, to the extent it will require yielding up captured land, undesirable. They prefer to believe in a demonic caricature of The Arabs, a many-headed hydra whose sole dream is the destruction of Israel. To support this view, they dwell on any and all statements that might confirm it, dismissing any and all statements that might contradict it as mere deception. Arafat and his underlings, whose power is wholly dependent on a deal with Israel, oblige them each time they shore up their nationalist credentials by trotting out the old confrontationalist cliches.