Letters to the Editor: Palestinians, take a cue from UAE: It’s time to make peace with Israel

To the editor: Your editorial on the deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is in some ways damning with faint praise.

The deal between Israel and the UAE was not intended to solve the intractable problem between Israel and the Arabs living in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza, but did provide a means of relieving tensions to a degree between the parties.

The Palestinian Authority chose not to take advantage of that, but chose instead to condemn the agreement, and the L.A. Times chose to sniff at it because it wasn’t part of an ultimate peace deal. Recognize it for what it is: a warming of relations between another Arab country and Israel.

The extension of Israeli sovereignty to parts of Judea and Samaria (yes, it is extension of sovereignty and not annexation) is not the impediment to peace. Rather, it is the intransigence of the Palestinian Authority to engage in any negotiations without preconditions.

Perhaps as other Arab nations choose to have relations with Israel, the Palestinian Authority may ultimately realize how untenable its position is and will finally negotiate.

Emanuel R. Baker, Los Angeles