Before news of Friday morning’s missile strike on Iran, Richard Haass (Opinion, April 17) wrote that Israel was facing four possible choices for how to respond to Iran: “At best the threat is something to be managed. The question for Israel’s government is how best to do this.” What he overlooked is a fifth option: make peace with the Palestinians.
If Israel were to acknowledge that the way it came into existence was predicated on a grave injustice and finally offer to make peace based on mutual recognition of the rights of all sides in international law, good faith negotiations could start.
These would be backed by almost the entire international community save for Iran, which would be isolated. The will would exist to help the parties succeed, and the result would transform the Middle East.
It would mean abandoning some of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cherished shibboleths (Jerusalem is the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel; Judaea and Samaria rightfully belong to the Jewish people), but the sooner the world faces up to this the better.
John McHugo
London SW15, UK
