Israel has been carrying two heavy "bags" for a long time - from 1948 and 1967 - and both should be settled as soon as possible.
These lines are written far from any ideology or affiliation with a party or belief in the integrity of the country.
They are written out of a desire to find what to do for the benefit of Israel and its residents in the long run, or in other words - forever.
I experienced the Six Day War as a resident of Beirut.
Three months after the war, I immigrated to Israel with my mother, as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
I left the country and came to the insight that for the benefit of Israel, the territories we won following the war must be returned to Egypt, Jordan and Syria, with the exception of Jerusalem.
The insight was based on the fact that a peace agreement is signed between countries.
Since then things on the ground have evolved in other directions.
Today we have to deal with a more complex reality.
I lived and grew up in an Arab country.
They and we are different in almost every field.
This does not mean that it is impossible to build a good neighborhood.
Such a neighborhood may impart the long-awaited peace, and perhaps even reconciliation.
We have a deep disagreement regarding the permanent solution, and therefore this should be left to the public to decide through a referendum.
The majority in the Middle East has already forgotten the important decision of the Security Council 242 of 1967, which was made with great effort immediately after the six days.
The decision stated that the permanent solution would be based on known and safe boundaries.
Let us return to this formula, and determine what for Israel is a safe border.
After the murderous wave of terror that befalls us, many are the commentators and opinion writers who discuss how to respond.
In my opinion, we should not look for ways to calm the situation, but strive for a permanent solution so that Israel will be educated to live safely.
The second issue we have been carrying for a long time concerns the Arabs of Israel.
The participation of an extreme handful of people from among the country's Arabs in acts of terrorism out of nationalist motives, or the clashes that took place in the cities involved in May last year, should keep sleep out of our eyes, lest we fail in our approach to integrate people in this sector.
However, many do not see the reality in the Arab sector as present.
Any explanation that Ayman Odeh, the head of the joint list, will provide us with his call for an uprising, or the illusory dance of the mayor of Umm al-Fahm, only intensifies the need for a thorough solution.
Do not be afraid to look at a problem, what is needed is courage to solve it.
The vast majority of Arab citizens want to live in peace and integrate into society.
In the Foreign Service and other government institutions, Arabs serve, to the glory of the state.
The guiding rule is that anyone who sees himself as an Israeli citizen, for all that that implies, is a citizen for everything.
Those who do not consider themselves citizens, and choose to commemorate the conflict and engage in terrorism - their place is not among us.
Failure to resolve the two ongoing problems will continue to obscure our lives and our aspirations for a Jewish and democratic Israel.
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