If the Palestinians found the Israeli peace proposals unrealistic, the appropriate response would have been to come back to the table with a counterproposal. That is called negotiation. Apparently their only idea of a “realistic” outcome is the outright elimination of the “Zionist entity” and total Palestinian control “from the river to the sea.”

You are not wrong about the settlements, and many of us both in Israel and in the Diaspora have opposed them all along. But in 2005, when Ariel Sharon dismantled all Jewish settlements in Gaza—over strenuous objections from the settlers themselves—and turned over administration to the Palestinians, the result was the Hamas takeover, incessant rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, and now the pogrom of October 7.

In 2008, Ehud Olmert offered Abbas 95% of the West Bank (with land swaps on the Israeli side for the other 5%), dismantling of the remaining settlements, a protected road and rail link between the West Bank and Gaza, and Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem as their national capital. Abbas took the proposal back to his cabinet of advisers for study and then never called back.

The great majority of Israelis would embrace a settlement offering recognition, security, and nonbelligerence. Instead, the Palestinians have offered nothing but rejection and violence. I repeat, they could have their state if they would only agree to lay down their arms and live in peace. They have never shown any willingness to do so.