The politics of ‘From the River to the Sea.’
By James M. Dorsey
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Newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin was furious. The blood drained from his face as he stood up to signal an end to the conversation. ‘How dare you?’ Mr. Begin growled before leaving without a further word.
It was 1977 and Mr. Begin had just become Israel’s first-ever right-wing leader. He took issue with a reporter asking what the difference was between the prime minister’s mainstreaming of references to Judea and Samaria, the Biblical names for the West Bank, that he claimed were part of the Jews’ historical land, and the Palestine Liberation Organisation or PLO’s call for a secular democratic state in Palestine.
Yet, the two propositions have much in common. Both envision one state in historic Palestine.
