Radical Steps Needed to Break Israel Impasse

The distance to a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians grows longer by the day, Thomas Friedman laments in the New York Times, and involving Jordan is the best bet. He calls for “radical pragmatism” as “energetic as the extremism that it hopes to nullify.” Giving Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas land and trusting an Arab neighbor to control it—that is, insure that it isn't used for rocket attacks on Israel—would solidify legitimacy.

"Without a radically pragmatic new approach," Friedman concludes, "one that gets Israel moving out of the West Bank, gets the Palestinian Authority real control and sovereignty, but one which also addresses the deep mistrust by bringing in Jordan as a Palestinian partner—any draft treaty will be dead on arrival." (More Arab Israeli conflict stories.)