Under what circumstances, exactly, can Israel be expected to negotiate with nations and groups that seek the country's destruction?
It is not only that Palestinian terrorists routinely lob missiles at civilian areas inside Israel -- often generating little or none of the international condemnation that would be heaped on the attackers if their target were any other nation.
It is also the perpetually inflammatory, hate-soaked rhetoric coming from Palestinian "leaders" and others of like mind.
In case you were fortunate enough to miss it, the vice president of Iran recently gave a speech in Tehran at a United Nations-sponsored conference on the trafficking of illegal drugs. It was not just the usual Israel-bashing Arab nations that were represented. Officials from Europe and other regions of the world attended, too.
And what, pray, did Mohammed-Reza Rahimi, second in line to equally reckless President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have to say?
Why, he declared that ancient Jewish texts teach the sucking of blood from people and promote the international drug trade!
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will pay for anybody who can research and find one single Zionist who is an addict," Rahimi said. "They do not exist. This is the proof of their involvement in drugs trade."
European diplomats "expressed shock" at the content of the speech, The New York Times reported.
The reason for their shock is unclear. Iran has made no bones about its desire to see Israel destroyed. So disgust, not surprise, is the more appropriate response. And determination to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is more appropriate still.
Yet Israel is told again and again that it just isn't doing enough to promote peace with radical Muslim-dominated nations.
Left unstated is the fact that it is impossible to promote peace with someone who categorically refuses to stop punching you in the nose.