There is a story about a scholar who lived in Poland once upon a time. He was brilliant, bright, but also very Jewish. Even though he could do great things, his Jewishness stopped him wherever he turned to in academia.
One morning, the scholar decided that he is fed up with rejection. He made up his mind to convert to Christianity. Not permanently of course; only as a temporary measure.
The scholar moved to the big city, Warsaw, was baptized, and started to frequent a popular church every Sunday. It’s all about convenience and interests, he used to think to himself in order to justify his acts. Immediately after the temporary period, once I am a well-known Christian scholar, I will abandon the church and return to my roots.
Some time passed in the new city, but nothing changed for the Jew. Despite all his efforts and despite converting to Christianity, he felt rejected. After some hesitation, he approached a priest at the church in order to consult with him. “It’s not you,” the priest said politely. “It’s your giant nose. Your nose gives you away.”
The Jewish scholar heard the priest’s words, looked at his familiar and beloved image in the mirror, and with a heavy heart headed to a well-known plastic surgeon who proceeded to cut down and rebuild his huge nose.
However, after some more time passed, and despite his small nose, everyone continued to treat him as a Jew. This time around, the charismatic priest blamed the man’s ears. The effort is worth it, the Jew thought to himself as he went through another surgery. Yet even after this operation, he was rejected by members of the enlightened classes.
Disappointed and hurting, the Jew returned to his hometown, his old home, and his friends from the past. “That’s it, my gentile period is over,” he muttered, his face twisted with pain. “I’m done studying.”
Altar of trial and error
By 2009, the Jewish State’s face had undergone several plastic surgeries on the instructions of various priests: We cut down Gaza and we fixed our nose in northern Samaria, yet despite this the enlightened world did not embrace Israel.
Now, Priest Obama and a surgical team from Europe are proposing a new method: A 10-month freeze and the Jewish face will look completely different. In other words, Take the “let’s talk about everything” formula, add areas that were never up for negotiations (the Judean Desert, the northern Dead Sea, the outskirts of Jerusalem,) give up your ideological identity and on the very little that is under consensus, and in exchange you may get the sacrament of salvation.
Seemingly, in Israel today there are no longer any patients who believe in cosmetic surgeries that change reality. The peace dove passed here numerous times, leaving behind its droppings instead of an olive branch. Yet nonetheless, ironically enough, the Israeli government is again willing to place its face on the altar of trial and error, this time in favor of a freeze process.
In the backdrop we have the unuttered explanation, the strategic need, the objective that makes the immense suffering worthwhile: Iran, the ultimate enemy. And all that in exchange for a few months of light cosmetics.
However, the international community’s response, and especially the response of Obama and his advisors, is predetermined. With all due respect to Israel, in the US president’s view there is nothing worse than initiating a military operation. Once the 10 months are up, Israel will remain alone, facing the same resistance and the same problem – only by then, a few more scars will be added to the nation’s face.