Netanyahu & the Evolution of Likud
By Timothy Collins Not surprisingly Benjamin Netanyahu's heavily qualified endorsement of the two-state solution prompted scorn and ridicule from Palestinian and Arab quarters. In Israel, many considered the prime minister's offer of a future Palestinian state a generous one. But to characterise Netanyahu's endorsement of Palestinian statehood in his address last Sunday at Bar-Ilan University as either farcical or magnanimous is to miss the historic significance of the moment. Granted, Netanyahu vetoed both a Palestinian military and Palestinian sovereignty over its airspace, staked Israel's claim to an 'undivided'Jerusalem as its capital, and demanded that Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. But seen in the context of Likud's ideological evolution over the past several decades - and notwithstanding Netanyahu's unwarranted reiteration of his belief that the West Bank and Gaza are part the Jewish peoples ancestral homeland - the PM's de f...