The Issue: Whether Kerry’s efforts to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians are poorly timed.
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Cynics like John Podhoretz contribute nothing to the situation in the Middle East by ridiculing Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to make peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians (“Clueless John Kerry,” PostOpinion, July 8).
While he is right that there are other situations in the region that are currently more volatile, it is not clear what the US can do about them. The Israeli-Palestinian situation, while superficially calm at the moment, is a long-simmering cauldron that contains the seeds of disaster if not acted upon soon.
Israeli and Palestinian demographics, the continued building of settlements and the very vagaries of Israeli and Palestinian politics that Podhoretz cites as reasons not to act are, as Kerry says, quickly leading to a point where, without action, the survival of Israel as a democratic and Jewish state and the rights of the Palestinians may be difficult or impossible to achieve in any of our lifetimes.
Podhoretz should support Kerry’s efforts to achieve a solution that the majority of Israelis, Palestinians and Americans have long desired.
Martin J. Levine
Maplewood, NJ
Is Podhoretz stupid? He asks this about Kerry, but invites the question about himself when he writes that the Israel-Palestine issue is “not in crisis” and “utterly beside the point.”
Can he believe these words as the Palestinians continue to face military occupation and stand at the cusp of a third and bloody intifada, while Israel is in danger of losing its character as both a Jewish and a democratic state?
The third strike against Podhoretz is his statement that the Israel-Palestine issue is “uniquely unready for any kind of forward movement at present.”
Without forward movement, the Israel-Palestine issue may turn into its own version of the messes in Syria and Egypt.Irwin Wall
Manhattan
Who says the job of secretary of state is only to put out fires?
Americans who are concerned for the future of Israel want a two-state solution and want the US to press for one.
That’s the policy of the US government, the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, and it’s in the interest of all parties to reach such an accord.
Kerry’s efforts are supremely appropriate and should be supported.
Those like Podhoretz, who always find reasons not to disturb the status quo, are asking for decades more of occupation.
Before too long, Israel will no longer be the country that its supporters know and love.
Peter Buxbaum
Cliffside Park, NJ