Joint List MK Haneen Zoabi told the Knesset Education Committee that “Israel has an army that hunts down Palestinian youths and kills them.” Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The young Palestinian Arabs who are now stabbing Israelis in the latest terror wave sweeping Israel are undermining the creation of an independent Palestinian state. They are saying that they are unwilling to live in peace with Israel, and will fight against it with their lives. They are showing Israel that a two-state solution or a binational state would not work.

Israel’s reaction has been as moderate as possible, considering the danger it faces. Countries at war routinely mistreat minorities that are ethnically related to their enemies. During World War II, the United States relocated its citizens of Japanese descent to internment camps for the duration of the war. In Israel, on the other hand, Arab citizens who are openly disloyal can — and do — hold government positions.

Haneen Zoabi, a member of the Israeli Knesset, has kept her seat even though she rode on the Mavi Marmara as part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. She has also denounced Israel publicly on an unending number of occasions. No country but Israel would allow that.

In 2005, Israel announced it would unilaterally withdraw from Gaza. Israel, in essence, was willing to create an independent Palestinian mini-state. What happened? On July 9, 2005, 171 non-governmental organizations voted to boycott, divest from, and impose sanctions against Israel. That was the beginning of the BDS Movement. After the withdrawal was complete, Hamas took over Gaza, and has used the territory to launch countless attacks on Israeli civilians.

Nevertheless, Israel remains open to negotiations and allows its Arab citizens and its West Bank residents to live in peace. Never before in human history has a state threatened by those who wish to destroy it responded so moderately and humanely.