Yossi Beiln
Photo: Yaron Brener
All is not well
Despite seemingly positive developments, danger still lies ahead
Thank God. We can announce the construction of 3,000 new homes in the West Bank, continue to build in east Jerusalem, and grant the settlers “a normal life.” We got the American approval from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding Israel’s
unwillingness to freeze settlement construction (a historic mistake,) we are convinced that Mahmoud Abbas
won’t compromise ahead of the Palestinian elections, and we can continue with a “business as usual” attitude.
Netanyahu is satisfied. He has a disciplined and stable coalition, there is no crisis in the ties with the US, and most importantly, his willingness to utter an endorsement of the two-state solution turned him into a member of the “peace camp.” He keeps on quoting his Bar-Ilan speech as if he discovered that the world isn’t flat, as everyone thought before him.
It’s hard to believe how good things are. The US gave up its demand to freeze the settlements and left Abbas insisting on such freeze as a condition for negotiations, while Netanyahu does not present any conditions. Mrs. Clinton meets Foreign Minister Lieberman as if he was Moshe Sharett or Abba Eban. She smiles, shakes hands, walks out to the cameras, and knows that Lieberman can talk all he wants about what he’ll advice the PM to do in respect to the Palestinians, the Goldstone Report, and similar affairs. She knows that Netanyahu will listen to him attentively, and then burst out in laughter after Lieberman leaves the room.
So the whole world is against us. Big deal. It was always against us and it will always be against us, even if we make peace. So Britain is hindering our bid to join OECD and Europe is unwilling to buy products made in the territories, and we’re facing a spat with Sweden and Norway, and are in deep trouble vis-à-vis Turkey, and Bahrain is advancing a law forbidding ties with Israelis. So what? We’ve seen worse days, and after all, we overcame Pharaoh.
And if, heaven forbid, Abbas will agree to negotiate without preconditions, or accept some kind of compromise on the settlement front? Let’s not worry about such problems for now.
What if Abbas agrees to talk?
We can formulate our entire policy on the basis of the other side’s habitual refusal. We can also laud Obama’s appeasement policy vis-à-vis Iran based on the assumption that Ahmadinejad won’t be accepting any proposal. Besides, if Abbas agrees to resume talks, we can always say no to Jerusalem or to the refugee issues, build a national consensus, and try to blame the other side for everything. It’s all about better PR. Another speech at the UN or in Bar-Ilan will solve the problem.
And what if, heaven forbid, we’ll see another outbreak of violence as result of the diplomatic impasse? Violence is the strongest national glue. We shall face the violence together, and maybe we shall see Kadima joining the government without conditioning it on a premiership rotation. At worst, we’ll add a third table at the Knesset to the two existing government tables. Someone will slam the wastefulness, but it will go away.
And what if continuing with our “business as usual” approach leads to a Palestinian majority west of the Jordan River and the Jewish state will no longer be Jewish, even if the whole world recognizes Israel’s Jewishness? Well, that won’t happen during this term in office anyway.
Dr. Yossi Beilin is president of the Beilink Business Foreign Affairs and chairman of the Geneva Initiative
