Here in the U.S. Midwest, a steamy and (intermittently) stormy day. Weather was blessedly cool at the end of June and through most of the Independence Day holiday. Now it looks like the summer heat and humidity, punctuated by ravaging rains, have returned, not unlike the weather that categorized the generally unbearable summers of 2011 and 2012. But enough about the weather.

The news is the same. In Egypt, as in Syria, there is increasing polarization and bloodshed, with no reasonable person of generally liberal and pluralist outlook having anyone in the fight to side with (“with whom to side”; I was taught in school to cringe at ending sentences with prepositions). The MB is ghastly; Al Nour (the Salafists who are more extreme than the MB, if that is possible) are worse; the military and its secularist backers used extralegal means to unseat a terrible regime and more violence against the pro-Morsi demonstrators. The Syrian situation, which has seemingly been dragging on forever, continues in the same gruesome vein. The Alawite (“an offshoot of the Shi’ite branch of Islam” as all good NYT readers are aware) regime of Assad and its supporters have maintained power by mass murder; the rebels arrayed against it are increasingly dominated by Salafist/pro-Al Qaeda extremists.

All of which bodes ill for Israel, which I will deal with at length in the next post. To summarize my view about Israel: It is long past time to cut a deal and make a peace agreement with the Palestinians and eliminate the Arab/Muslim pretext/excuse for focusing hatred on Israel and the Jews. A deal would mean about 90-95% of the West Bank, with appropriate land swaps, to the Palestinians; Jewish settlers would have the choice of resettlement or taking their chances with a Palestinian national regime. It would probably also mean a bifurcation of Jerusalem. In return for which, no automatic right of return for Palestinians to pre-1967 Israel and a closely monitored peace agreement with the Palestinians under the microscope for bellicose words/actions (including anti-Semitic stereotypes and “Islamist/martyrist” rhetoric in their media and educational materials). I’m not saying it’s great, or necessarily just according to (my idea of) what is fair, but it’s the best solution around. I’m frustrated that Israel is sitting fat and happy and thinking the status quo will last forever, and doing nothing. That way lies future disaster.

Wayne Buscombe