Yoaz Hendel
Settlers should be smarter
Op-ed: Settlers’ automatic objection to settlement construction freeze uncalled for
The Middle East has already seen many good intentions and diplomatic plans, but it appears that even veteran peace fans would have trouble explaining the current freeze. We’ll start with the fact that any way you look at it, Obama’s plan is worthless. One cannot resolve the core issues (refugees Jerusalem, recognition, incitement) via temporary borders. Most certainly, one cannot bridge a 100-year conflict in three months (as intensive as they may be.)
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Attila Somfalvi
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This logic is clear to everyone involved in working out the freeze and to anyone involved in this conflict both on the Left and Right.
Precisely for that reason, the settlers are wrong in the manner they choose to fight the current freeze. For years now they’ve been explaining what’s dangerous and must not be done in the negotiations with the Palestinians. Their horrific prophecies have realized themselves, to the regret of all sides involved. The problem is that sometimes, you are so right that you forget to be wise.
Just like Pavlovian conditioning, settler leaders hit the streets, gather rabbis, and raise a hue and cry against the latest decree. As always, they talk about what shouldn’t be done, instead of talking about what should be done.
It appears that under the current circumstances, it would be good to learn a thing or two from our neighbors. The diplomatic theater is not about credibility; rather, it’s similar to a poker game of experienced liars. At times they smile, because they have to, and other times they create a “phase plan” (asking for one small, last thing, but seeing it as merely one phase along the way.) Yet other times, they say something obligatory to the camera, yet everyone (including the photographer) knows nothing will come out of it.
See the big picture
Abbas, just to illustrate, is a permanently unsuitable leader. The chances he will ultimately sign an agreement on ending the conflict and resolving the core issues is similar to his chances of sending a first Palestinian astronaut into space. Nonetheless, he produces a volume of activity. Everything is for appearances’ sake. He talks, declares, argues, and gets insulted in his diplomatic way. He does it while in the backdrop, Palestinian roads and towns are being built.
Yet this insight regularly fails to penetrate the psyche of the settler leadership. Their approach is the opposite: They produce a volume of declarations and ideology en route to freezing everything.
As one who supports the settlement enterprise, in my view a three-month freeze is not the essence; it’s a triviality. There is no ideological or practical reason not to cease construction for several months, on condition this is commensurate with Israel’s interests. All that is left is to define this interest and learn to swallow some unpleasantness. The Americans want a freeze? I’m in favor. But first let’s talk about the things we agree on.
A three-billion dollar gift in the form of 20 F-35 fighter jets is good for Israel. It’s an important leap, on condition this is a signed deal, here and now, rather than a vague part of a future contract.
A freeze is bad for Israel, but we can agree to it should Obama recreate the Bush letter and grant it practical validity: Free construction in the settlement blocs and in Jerusalem as of tomorrow morning, in exchange for a three-month construction freeze in settlements like Yitzhar.
Indeed, there is reason to fear a precedent here, and it even comes with the bad small of a high-priced bribe, yet the settlers too need to see the big picture, even if it means holding their breath.
The understandings, should they be achieved, should be utilized in order to create domestic and international consensus on what we can. The time has come for Ariel, Gush Etzion, and Jerusalem’s Ramot neighborhood to be a declared, recognized part of Israel. We’ll start there. The discussion on the other areas will apparently require much more time.
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