From Amos Yadlin, the former head of Military Intelligence who now heads the prestigious Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, to journalist and writer Ari Shavit, to former Ambassador to Washington Michael Oren, thoughtful voices have been urging that Israel find a way to end its rule over the Palestinians, even if a negotiated peace agreement remains elusive.

The barrages of rockets fired at the densely populated center of the country over the summer has shaken even long-time two-state enthusiasts, in a way that the oft-reported bombardment of the southern periphery never could. Ordinary Israelis in Tel Aviv, Petach Tikva and Rehovot, accustomed to feeling themselves to be far from the conflict, were suddenly forced to confront their country’s geographic vulnerabilities. The warnings from the Right now seem all the more prescient: a withdrawal from the West Bank would leave that territory open to missile-wielding Jihadists who could reach every corner of little, pre-1967 Israel. Hamas can now do almost that from Gaza, including (albeit temporarily) prompting major airlines to determine that Ben-Gurion airport is part of the war zone.

Perhaps even more terrifying has been the discovery of the tunnels. It is now apparent that their destruction by Israeli forces prevented what could have been the most lethal single act of terrorism ever experienced in Israel. The West Bank is no further from Israel’s capital city of Jerusalem than Gaza is from those Kibbutzim which were shocked to discover Hamas-built tunnels directly under their communities.

Read the article in full at Fathom Journal.