Machiavelli, Palestine, and Israel

It’s been decades since I read “The Prince,” so I may be remembering this incorrectly, but I believe Machiavelli said it was better to take a son from a person than to take land from a person.  You can grieve the loss of a son and come to accept it, but the land is always there, reminding you of the loss and standing in the way of a reconciliation.

I thought of that today when I read the New York Times article that Secretary of State Blinken’s vision for mideast peace is a nonstarter for Israel.  Blinken, and evidently Biden, are advocating a two-state solution.  Palestinians would get their own country.  

Netanyahu, of course, and probably most Israelis would say no.  Unfortunately, without a territory to call their own, Palestinians will always yearn for their own country.  It will be their own form of Zionism.  It won’t go away.  We have two mirror images.  Israelis don’t want a Palestine; Palestine doesn’t want an Israel.  Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be the first time that enemies could learn to live in peace.  It probably would be an uneasy peace at first, but history is replete with former enemies who learn to accept each other.

See Edward Wong and Patrick Kingsley, “Blinken’s Grand Vision For Achieving Peace is a Nonstarter for Israel,” New York Times, (Jan. 12, 2024), p. A7.