The two-state solution sounds like a reasonable approach to end the Palestinian- Israeli conflict.

The following slightly modified application of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences winner Robert Aumann’s Agreement Theorem is a valid illustration of why the two-state solution is not possible today.

Two men are placed in a locked room with a box containing $100,000. They are told that if they can agree on how to split the money, they will share the agreed-upon amount.

No. 1 says this is the easiest $50,000 I have every received.

No. 2 says I want the whole $100,000 amount because I have known the donor for many years, and you have just met him. The only reason why you were chosen was because your great-great grandfather and the donor’s great-great grandfather were very close friends.

They argue for an hour but cannot reach agreement, because No. 2 will not change his mind about the whole $100,000.

The echo of gentleman No. 2 is in every Palestinian document, such as the PLO Charter, the Hamas Charter, the Fatah Constitution and practically every Palestinian writing in Arabic. Palestinian television programs, textbooks and newspapers also consistently follow gentleman No. 2’s thinking. Please try to find one Palestinian Arabic example of sharing one grain of sand with Israel.

This is not my opinion; these are facts readily available to all. Just type Palestinian Media Watch into an internet search engine and you will find a constant stream of English translations of what I have stated above.

(Letter to the editor published on 1/24/2017 in http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/letters/1.767118)

Dear Major General (res.) Reshef,

You and the other members of the Commanders for Israel’s Security should learn more about your prospective neighbor before you start on your road to the destruction of Israel.

I am a 94 year young American Vet who had fought from Normandy to the most easterly part of Germany when the war ended. I have purchased two ambulances for Magen David Adom and a motorcycle for Hatzalah. My father collected money for arms for Israel in the mid-1940’s. My son and I have been writing, lecturing, and debating for Israel for many years.

We both were very surprised and shocked to hear about your organization “Commanders for Israel’s Security,” and your peace plan for a two-state solution.

The saying that “it takes two to tango” should be considered very carefully before you embark on your campaign.

Is Hamas, Fatah, or the Palestinian Authority to be your Peace Partner; or will it be all three?

Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have charters which call for the elimination of Israel. Fatah has a constitution which also calls for the destruction of Israel. Oslo, thus far, has been the only “peace” agreement that has been signed. The unilateral departure from Gaza was another attempt at peace with the Palestinian leaders.

Arafat, et al promised in the Oslo Agreement to have the Palestine National Council (PNC) annul the onerous charter clauses. They never changed one word of the charter; however, Arafat did convince almost everyone that the April 1996 PNC meeting resulted in twenty-six charter clause annulments and partial annulments. Thus far, Israel pursuant to Oslo, conveyed large segments of land to the Palestinian Arabs and the unchanged 1968 charter still is the Palestinian “Junior Koran.” I don’t have to tell you the result of the Gaza withdrawal.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) and Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI) issue frequent translations of the PATV, Press, Palestinian leaders’ utterances, and Friday sermons. If anyone with an open or closed mind would read these translations, nobody would want to enter into any type of peaceful relationship with the advocates of such terrible concepts.

How many times must you hear Palestinian leaders say that an agreement with Israel is similar to the agreement which Muhammad signed with the Quraysh, before you will believe it?

How many times must you hear Palestinian leaders say that we will destroy Israel in phases, before you will believe them?

How many times must you hear Abbas or other Palestinian leaders refer to terrorist murderers of Israeli civilians as martyrs, before you will understand them?

You and your fellow commanders should also study the Cairo Palestinian National Council (PNC) “Political Programme of June 9, 1974.” The Palestinian leaders decided after the Yom Kippur War that a frontal attack against Israel was useless. Thus, they created the concept of destroying Israel in phases in this Programme.

The Declaration by the PNC in Cairo on March 22, 1977 reiterated their 1974 Programme.

Intention is what you must consider before you decide to do anything. I respectfully ask you to find one iota of any Palestinian leaders’ words or deeds in Arabic, which could lead you to conclude that they would settle for any result other than the elimination of Israel from their Muslim Waqf.

Respectfully,

William K. Langfan

(Letter to the editor published on 11/2/2016 in http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Generic/Generic/SendPrint?print=1&type=1&item=19703)

Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu,

I respectfully and unequivocally state that not one word of the 1968 PLO Charter has ever been changed pursuant to Clause 33 of the Charter which states “that no changes in the charter can be made unless 2/3 of the membership of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) vote for a change.”

There is no written PLO Charter in existence other than the original 1964 PLO Charter and its amended 1968 version. The only special PNC session pertaining to the charter which has ever been held occurred in April 1996. Before the resolution was given to the PNC members, PNC Chairman Za’noun delivered a speech and stated the following: “But the version which was drafted is the least damaging that we could submit. It gives us an extension of six months until the Central Council convenes. And then the Central Council will discuss it. And it is within its rights to say they leave it for the National Council.”

Za’noun’s words clearly meant that the resolution was intended to delay any change in the Charter and still fulfill Article XXXI paragraph 9 of the Interim Agreement. This clause required that within two months from the date of the inauguration of the Interim Agreement, the PLO undertakes to have the Palestinian National Council meet to approve the charter changes in the September 1993 exchange of letters between Arafat and Rabin.

The PNC voted for a two-clause resolution. Clause One did not mention one specific clause annulment. It was a generalized statement that the PNC had decided to amend the Charter and cancel articles that opposed the September 1993 exchange of letters between Arafat and Rabin. Clause Two assigns the legal committee the responsibility of redrafting the Palestinian National Charter which will later be presented to the PCC during its first meeting. There is no evidence that any segment of Clause Two was ever fulfilled. There is no mention of Clause Two in any document after the 1996 PNC resolution. No other Palestinian document pertaining to the charter or the 1996 PNC Resolution was ever published until Arafat’s January 1998 letter to President Clinton.

Arafat boldly lied in the letter by stating that the April 1996 PNC Resolution resulted in 12 annulments (clauses 6-10, 15, 19-23, and 30) and 14 partial annulments (clauses 1-5, 11-14, 16-18, 25-27 and 29). Arafat in the letter converted the generalized language of Clause One into his own specific charter annulments and partial annulments. There is not one iota of evidence to sustain this untruthful conversion.

No special PNC session pertaining to the Charter other than the April 1996 meeting has ever been held.

The most powerful arguments Israel has as to why it should not meet with the Palestinians now is that Palestinian leaders have never changed one word of their charter’s declared goal of destroying Israel.

Additionally, Hamas has a charter that is even worse than the PLO’s. The 1998 Hamas Charter preamble states: “Surat Al-Imran (111), verses 109-11: Israel will arise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors.”

And Clause 11 of the 1998 Hamas Charter declares that the land of Palestine has been and is an Islamic Wafq in perpetuity.

If Israel were to present to world leaders and international bodies some recent PMW and MEMRI translations of PATV programs, some recent Palestinian newspaper articles, some recent inflammatory statements by Palestinian officials, and some Friday sermons by Palestinian imams combined with the above charters, no reasonably objective party could object to your refusal to meet with Abbas or any Hamas official.

Respectfully,

William K. Langfan Palm Beach, FL

(Published on 7/14/2016 in http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/letters-to-the-editor/letters-to-the-editor-423/2016/09/14/0/)

Questions for European leaders and our own John Kerry:

Would you meet with an adjacent neighbor if –

* they possessed many thousands missiles and their three major political parties had formal charters and a constitution calling for your destruction?

* their TV programs taught their people that the area of your country and their country are part of a “WAQF” which is a religious expression meaning it is a sacred area, and that not one grain of soil can belong to anyone else?

* they signed a prior agreement with you requiring them to annul clauses in their charter calling for your destruction in exchange for your conveyance of land to them – and while you did comply with your obligation, they in fact changed not one word of their charter?

* they honored as martyrs terrorists who murdered civilians of your country and almost daily incited their people against yours?

* they stated words of peace in your language and said exactly the opposite in their own language?

William K. Langfan

Palm Beach, FL

(This letter to the editor was published on 8/17/2016 in http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/letters-to-the-editor/letters-to-the-editor-419/2016/08/17/)