Not A Mitzvah To Mitt

One of Newt Gingrich's most recent wild attacks on Mitt Romney wasn't kosher, according to Commentary:

Romney’s decision was not, as Gingrich claims, a choice to “eliminate kosher food for elderly Jewish residents under Medicare.” First of all, it was a choice made by the nursing homes themselves, not the Massachusetts government. Second, it was never actually going to prevent kosher residents from accessing kosher food. And third, Romney’s decision wouldn’t have cut anything – he simply vetoed additional funds, keeping funding at the status quo during a budget crisis year. Which means Gingrich’s comments have little basis in reality.

Do Palestinians Want A State?

Evelyn Gordon:

If the Palestinians had any real interest in obtaining a state, they wouldn’t need to be bribed, cajoled and arm-twisted just to get them to hold talks with the only party that can actually give them one –Israel.

But to admit that is to admit the entire peace process is a fraud and a failure, and that is too painful. It’s much more comfortable to keep pretending that peace could be achieved if Israel would just give a little more.

With A Homeland, Palestinian Hearts Will Follow

Evelyn Gordon at "Commentary" wants to call off Middle East peace talks in view of a poll revealing that 60% of Palestinians (regardless of whether they support a two-state solution, which a clear majority does) think it will be a mere stepping stone to "one Palestinian state," aka the end of Israel.

Based on a different poll, she also says most Palestinians wouldn't support the peace deal that Israel and the U.S. are likely to favor because it would probably entail too many compromises on issues Palestinians hold dear. Another reason to call the diplomats home, Gordon says. And yet the Israel Project survey she features in her post makes abundantly clear that Palestinians are optimistic about a peace breakthrough.

Do a majority of Palestinians really have to accept Israel in their hearts before any agreement is possible? That's Gordon's contention. And yet the pollsters themselves tell a different story:

This quantitative research, and the qualitative focus groups that preceded it, indicate that gaining majority support for recognizing Israel as a Jewish state is possible – when it is combined with two other conditions and developments. First, movement toward building an independent Palestinian state, and second, there must be concrete discussion of borders. While that may seem intuitive, the public discussion from both sides is murky on these issues at best starting at the end and then trying to communicate the pieces from there.

The first condition makes perfect sense. When Palestinians have a state of their own, the more prosperous and free the better, then hostility to Israel should decline. Those who say it won't may be giving in to the temptation of thinking that Palestinians nurse a unique hatred of Israel that can't be staunched, whereas my bias is that they will behave rationally, just like everyone else. As for "concrete discussion of borders," over to you, Bibi.

Hat tip to Mike Cheever