[yvonne]

I heard Ehud Barak speak at Flint Center, and he said the problem was that there's a tension between 2 and 3, and that he saw a two-state solution as the only way to solve that. With birth rates as they are, the future population of Israel could be Arabs and ultra-religious Jews.

I don't think anyone except the really religious are concerned about 1.

As far as Gaza being easy to defend, you'll note that Egypt hasn't traditionally been open to them, either. In 2005, Israel uprooted thousands of its citizens from their established homes in Gaza. The result was using that land to launch missiles at Sderot. I can't imagine many Israelis feel secure in giving up more land in light of this.

Somehow, negotiators have to find a way to raise the standard of living for Gazans and residents of the West Bank (which basically function as two separate political entities), while leaving Israelis feeling secure.

[yvonne]

I heard Ehud Barak speak at Flint Center, and he said the problem was that there's a tension between 2 and 3, and that he saw a two-state solution as the only way to solve that. With birth rates as they are, the future population of Israel could be Arabs and ultra-religious Jews.

I don't think anyone except the really religious are concerned about 1.

As far as Gaza being easy to defend, you'll note that Egypt hasn't traditionally been open to them, either. In 2005, Israel uprooted thousands of its citizens from their established homes in Gaza. The result was using that land to launch missiles at Sderot. I can't imagine many Israelis feel secure in giving up more land in light of this.

Somehow, negotiators have to find a way to raise the standard of living for Gazans and residents of the West Bank (which basically function as two separate political entities), while leaving Israelis feeling secure.