Israel - America's Greatest Ally; Update

When I read this article, I thought it fit very well with our series on Israel. I am a fan of Gary Bauer. While I don't agree with him on every issue, he seems to have his information on Israel in line with the writings of Dean and boaz in our series. Cyber Pastor

Bauer: Israel's latest release of Palestinian prisoners won't help
bring peace to region

Chad Groening
OneNewsNow.com
December 7, 2007

A pro-family activist and former presidential candidate says it's very unfortunate that the Israeli government continues to believe that appeasing the Palestinians will bring peace.

Recently the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert released 429 Palestinian prisoners -- mostly members of Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. The move was the third such release since July, due in part because some Israelis believe Abbas is moderate and committed to reaching a peace agreement with Israel by the end of next year.

But Gary Bauer of American Values says they are overlooking the lack of evidence. "There is no evidence -- zero evidence -- that the concessions on prisoners, concession on land, that any of those things will bring peace," he says. "In fact if those things brought peace, the Middle East would be one of the most peaceful areas of the entire world -- and it is the exact opposite."

Bauer says the U.S. seems to be just as naive about the situation as the Israelis. "I'm not encouraged by what I saw at Annapolis last week," he continues. "I thought the rhetoric coming from the administration was very disappointing, very depressing. This idea of two states living side-by-side in peace just does not fit the realities that we see in the Middle East."