If an agreement is ever reached, the Israeli public must come to terms with the fact that an agreement must entail, for the sake of Israeli lives and the national interest, the abandonment of most of the settlements in the territories. The present developments have proven that, in times of crisis, such locations will increase the risk of Israeli casualties and make it too costly to defend such posts. Granted, there should be no evacuations under fire. But in due course, a Palestinian state should not be forced to keep in its midst a dotted picture of Israeli enclaves. During 33 years of Israeli presence in the territories, successive governments have pursued a settlement policy with varying degrees of intensity.
Residents live in fear, under siege and under fire.
And the costly and environmentally unfriendly bypass roads have become an ideal hunting ground for Palestinians. War will only increase the number of fallen heroes and martyrs both Israeli and Arab leaders will bring as a dowry to the next round of negotiations. This path can only make a peace agreement more costly, painful, and difficult to achieve. Nobody would put a dime on a sinking ship. Israel's ship has sailed well for the last 10 years.