The major obstacle to a realistic solution of the Israel-Arab crisis is the failure of the Palestinians to keep their promises of containing terror in exchange for all the goodwill gestures and possible concessions made by Israel.

In this week's Torah portion the imprisoned Yosef asks the chief butler to the king of Egypt to intercede with the ruler to free him. Our Sages tell us that for putting his faith in this Egyptian's promise rather than in G-d he was punished by Heaven with an extra two years in prison.

"Blessed is the man," says King David (Tehillim 40:5), "who puts his trust in G-d and looks not to the boasters." This reference to the Egyptians may well be applied today to their Palestinian brothers and should serve as a reminder to Israel's leaders to rather put their faith in G-d to guarantee the security of Israel forever.

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