Reflections on the Six Day War, after 40 years

:APN: Issue Briefs:

Major General (ret.) Shlomo Gazit served for 33 years in the Israel Defense Forces. Following the Six Day War, Gazit served as Coordinator of Israeli Government Operations in the Administered Territories. In this capacity, he was the first Israeli ruler of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He later served as the head of IDF Military Intelligence:

...This process cannot proceed without full participation from the Israeli side. The Israeli public is tired of wars and is striving for a political solution. Israelis aspire to achieve a two-state solution and they know that the price they will have to pay for it includes leaving the Golan Heights, evacuating most of the settlements in the West Bank. Further, Israelis know that the adequate permanent border will follow the historic 'green lines,' and it is ready to accept such borders.

Not ready, however, is the Israeli political system. A weak, instable coalition-government, squeezed by domestic partners and fearful of political opposition, is hindering Jerusalem's ability to take the necessary decisions.

Forty years after that war, the conditions are now ripe for obtaining an Arab recognition and reconciliation with Israel's existence. It will be tragic and painful if Israel would be the one that is not ready and not ripe for turning the accomplishments of the war into political achievements...