Reply #76: Right now [View All]

[Muddleoftheroad]

I would argue a combination of what you say and what somebody like Sharon would say.

Israel ALSO has a claim on the land. A much older claim. A claim that will probably play out in and around Jerusalem. The rest of the settlements could disappear tomorrow for all I care -- as long as they do so NOT as the result of the terror campaigns.

I also agree that the bulk of the land will go and should go to the Palestinian state whenever that occurs. So your concept of holding it in trust is a fairly good one. But how that trust is handled must be up to Israel because security concerns ARE an issue.

And all of that -- the borders, the rights of the new state, the water rights, the air rights, transit from Gaza to the West Bank, etc. -- are things that must be negotiated through give and take. In the meantime, it is territory under Israeli control (that seems relatively indisputable since Israel does control it).