Editorial Board
Abbas’s Good Idea for Israel
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is on to something smart. His proposal that U.S.-led NATO troops patrol a future Palestinian state would resolve one of the toughest disputes standing in the way of ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The impasse centers on Israel’s concern about invasion -- a justifiable worry given the nearly catastrophic coordinated attacks by neighboring countries in 1973. By occupying the West Bank, Israel can man early warning systems that look east into the Jordan Valley; if Arab forces were to attempt an invasion, the Israeli military could slow or stop them in the West Bank before they reached Israel.