Despite the distinct possibility that one or more roads will run across Israeli
territory from east to west and bisect the country, the entire issue of "safe
passages": (a) has been dealt with over the heads of most Israeli leaders and
the public at large; and consequently (b) has tended to evolve with little if
any real grasp of the deeper ramifications.
Israeli decision makers in 1993 endorsed the triad of general principles – territorial integrity, contiguity and safe passage
– without serious government
discussion in Jerusalem, without prior consultation among military and technical
experts, without detailed position papers, without Knesset or media debate, and
without thinking through the economic, security, transportation and myriad other
on-the-ground implications.
