Palestinians are trying to delegitimize Israel.
For more than 60 years, peace has eluded the people of Israel. The tranquility that would come from being able to awaken each day without fear of annihilation, without fear of an attack on one's children and without the need to continuously be aware that the next moment may require running to the nearest bomb shelter cannot seem to find its way to that troubled land.

More than ever, Israelis are desperate for peace, but, at the same time, more than ever, the Palestinians are determined to set the price for peace so high that no nation, no matter how desperate, can afford to pay it.

Recent events reveal that the true long-term intentions of the Palestinians regarding Israel are nefarious and unjustifiable.

The Palestinians, with active support from governments throughout the Arab world and beyond, are engaged now in an intense campaign not only of delegitimizing Israel, but also of dismembering and dislodging any Jewish connection to the Holy Land. Despite the Bible, the overwhelming archeological evidence tying the Jewish people to the land and the historical origins of Christianity, the Palestinian administration today is advancing the “argument” that Jews have never had a connection to Israel or Jerusalem. It is not a good sign when one of the potential parties to any agreement comes to the table by way of pushing thousands of years of history into oblivion.

Israel doesn't appear in Palestinian textbooks or on Palestinian maps. Hatred of Jews is actively preached at all levels of Palestinian society. Palestinian children are still encouraged to aspire to martyrdom and kill as many Jews as possible in the name of a brand of religious fanaticism not seen since the Middle Ages

Ironically and tragically, these are teachings of the so-called “moderate” Palestinians who control the West Bank under Mahmoud Abbas. “Control” here is used very loosely, because Abbas is a corrupt and unpopular leader whose administration currently survives only because of the hundreds of millions of dollars being pumped in from the United States and Western Europe. Even if, beyond some wild reach of the imagination, Israel would be crazy enough to conclude a peace deal with Abbas, there is an excellent chance that the Palestinian Authority would be toppled the next day by Hamas, turning the West Bank into another Gaza-like base for further attacks on Israel's major population centers.

Sadly, after 60 years and after so much loss of life on both sides, it remains obvious that the intransigence of Israel's enemies is stronger than ever. There is no law stating that negotiating parties have to like each other, or perhaps even respect each other. However, when one side totally denies the legitimacy of the other side's existence, then no positive results will be forthcoming.

In the meantime, Israel will continue to take all the necessary steps to ensure its survival and the safety of its citizens.

Joseph R. Furman is a physician who was raised in San Antonio and has worked in San Antonio for the past 23 years.