EMMANUEL: IS IT IN OR IS IT OUT?

The Palestinian "freedom fighters" are at it again. While it may be an impressive act of skill to torch a civilian bus with a military convoy - think about the morality of this action for a second. Faced with a myriad of Israeli military targets (which the West Bank does not lack for these days), Palestinian terrorists went out of their way to inflict as much damage as possible on a harder-to-reach civilian target. Needless to say, there have been few, if any resistance movements more morally bankrupt resistance movement than that of the Palestinians.

The relevant question that this attack brings up for Israel is not another round of "there is no military solution" jabbering, but a painful decision about which settlements are worth integrating into the rest of the country, and which settlements cost far more to defend that they are worth. There are some easy decisions here - Gush Etzion is a no brainer for annexation, Netzarim will sooner or later, be evacuated. Emmanuel, however, is currently in an unclear middle ground. Is it to become the eastern-most point in a thickened Israeli center, or is it be considered part of Greater Nablus, and abandoned. Either way, Israel needs to decide this now - while they are keeping the territories in check and building the security fence. If they choose wisely, Israel will be able to have a much cleaner withdrawal and a much greater chance for a peaceful partition with a responsible Arab peace partner.