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Originally Posted by _Q_
A number of reasons.
#1 When Israel was created in 1948, 700,000 Palestinians were displaced and became refugees. Those refugees now number about 7 million. Simply defining Palestine as the 1967 borders without a solution to the refugees has always been a sticking point for the Palestinians. Returning them to Israel proper means that the Jewish character of Israel would become compromised, essentially turning Israel into an Arab state.
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Though the last point is correct, you conveniently skip over a few points:
- The UN agreed to a partition plan creating what would have become separate countries.
- While Arabs were being displaced so too were Jews - hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced out of ancient communities throughout the middle east.
- The number of refugees is so high because Palestinian refugees are the only refugees in history to keep that status generationally. (For example - The grandson of the Vietnamese "boat people" (as termed back in the '70's) who was born in Canada is not considered a Vietnamese refugee.)
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#2 the 1967 border runs right through Jerusalem with all the historical parts located in the Arab east end. Israel views the city as their eternal, undivided capital. The Palestinians view it the same way more or less. The Palestinians are willing to turn the eastern portion in their capital, the Israelis aren't willing to give up any of it.
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Again, missing a point or two-
- The old City of Jerusalem is home to the holiest place on earth for Jews (the Wailing Wall); the third holiest place for Muslims (The Rock where Muhammad ascended to heaven), and the second holiest site for Christians (the Church of the Holy Sepuclture). These are all in East Jerusalem.
- From 1948 - 1967 Jews were not allowed to pray at the Wailing Wall. There is legitimate concern that this could happen again under PA rule. The UN tried to guarantee it back in '47, it didn't work.
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#3 Israel wants to control the future Palestinian state's borders and air space. That is problematic for the Palestinians.
#4 Israel wants Palestine to be a demilitarized country, which again is problematic for the Palestinians.
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These are security reasons. A reasonable person would think that is #4 could be guaranteed, then #3 is unnecessary. (Yes, I know, Netanyahu is far from reasonable.)
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#5 There are currently 500,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank. Israel wants to maintain control of those settlements. The Palestinians have an issue with that since it breaks up the continuity of their country.
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The Palestinians real issue is that, as per their leader, Abbas, there can be no Jews left living in the State of Palestine.
Israel has proven that they will remove settlements. Yes, they are unlikely to remove the 3-4 large blocs, but many of the smaller ones (I would think 25,000 or less) would be gone. Israel removed all the settlements from the Sinai and from Gaza, they will have to remove many from Judea and Samaria.
Continuity of the country is a different issue. There is going to be crossover regardless of the end map - Gaza and Judea and Samaria are not exactly connected. Nor is Ariel connected to Israel proper. No one is getting one continuous country.
IIRC Clinton said that the refugee issue (Israel agreed to reparations and to accept 1 mil) and the concept of "End of the Conflict" were the points on which Arafat walked away.