What the Palestinians must do - Uri Savir in the Jerusalem Post

With the Annapolis conference between Israel and the Palestinian Authority set to soon take place, Uri Savir, a member of the Israeli "peace camp" weighs in on the parties' responsibilities to make the conference a success.

Shades of Oslo or the gray skies many predict? He writes:

It is essential that the impending regional meeting in Annapolis be successful. Failure at Annapolis would translate into a victory for the extremist elements in Israel, Palestine and throughout the region. Without success at Annapolis the next phase of the Palestinian-Israeli relationship will find a far less forthcoming Israeli government squaring off against an implacable Hamas.

Savir, who never leaves home without carrying his moral equivalence regarding extremism, advises that the Palestinians must make some serious choices if the Annapolis conference is going to be successful. Among them, a renunciation of the right of return and a postponement of the discussion about Jerusalem to future talks.

Those who have suffered at the hands of terrorists know that the stakes are too high to infuse the conference with much hope, if any. I, for one, do not place much stock in the ability of the Palestinians to replace their baser nature of opposition to the very existence of a Jewish Israel with one representing peaceful co-existence.

The Jerusalem Post