Bibi’s Condemnable Calculation
by: Joshua Stanton on November 29th, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Binyamin “Bibi” Netanyhu is Israel’s Prime Minister and shrewdest politician. Even his fiercest critics admire his savvy. But his latest maneuver, intended to appease both voters at home and U.S. President Barack Obama, may permanently debilitate peace talks with the Palestinians. We must not fall prey to his sly trick.
Under pressure from the Obama Administration, Bibi agreed last week to what sounds like a complete freeze of settlements. But, as the New York Times’ Editorial Board aptly pointed out, it is one that “exempts Jerusalem, schools and synagogues and permits Israel to complete 3,000 housing units already under construction.” This is tantamount to claiming that housing currently being built by Israeli companies through (at best) questionable means in East Jerusalem should not be considered ’settlements’ by the international community.
Such a move will further what the Association for Civil Rights in Israel terms the “continuing cycle of neglect, discrimination, poverty, and shortages” for Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. But far worse, it will drive a permanent wedge between the U.S. and the moderate citizens of Israel and Palestine.
Americans reading the news have already interpreted Bibi’s move as one of goodwill towards the Palestinians. At the same time, Bibi’s hawkish ministers will understand his statements as a prudent calculation to settle (pardon the pun) for East Jerusalem and cede the rest of the West Bank to the future Palestinian State. But moderate Palestinians and Israelis will understand Bibi’s pronouncement all too well: it is a ruse to avoid the all-important negotiations with Palestinian leaders over the future of East Jerusalem. Such a ruse may ultimately occlude peace, as difficult discussions are a necessary element in any lasting peace accord.
Bibi may have won a political battle. But both Israelis and Palestinians alike lose without a viable peace treaty.
It was ‘Bibi’ who gave the go-ahead for settlements those years ago……….at the time I just thought ‘that is it!…no hope for peace…….’……….when Sharon marched into Jerusalem that settled the fact in my little old head…….I mourne for what these people have created and are creating for the Israeli people……..these are not the Jews my beloved friends are, Mr. Obama……………………..Tony Roeber
Thankfully, Bibi (and his Likud Party) hold minority voices in Israel. 60% of Israelis, for example, believe in a two-state solution. The biggest impediment to the peace process on the Israeli side may not be the presence of the rightist extremists and center-right hawks (bad though they may be) but the convoluted Parliamentary process in Israel, which does not allow for the majority of moderate voices to be expressed.
Sounds like the Knesset is like our Senate.
If only! Our Senate is quite effective in comparison — remarkable though that may sound.
Netanyahu gets mistaken for a dove (and derided by the mainstream) because he’s never actually killed anyone. And he’s never yet carried out a major pogrom. Sir Gerald Kaufmann let him off the hook when he told the House of Commons in January “Olmert, Livni and Barak are mass murderers, war criminals and bring shame on the Jewish people whose Star of David they use as a badge in Gaza.”
Netanyahu has also been foolish enough to defend the two-state solution in the past, inviting a fresh pasting from the ethnic cleansers. The words of his father only partly get him of the hook “Bibi does not support a Palestinian state. He supports conditions that they [the Arabs] will never accept.” (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1099086.html – July 2009)