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Photo: AFP
Terror in Jerusalem. Netanyahu is in fact dividing the capital
Photo: AFP
Shimon Shiffer

Netanyahu, stop intimidating and start working

Op-ed: Instead of constantly talking about the threat to destroy Israel, the prime minister should find practical solutions for the horrific reality created under his leadership.

Anyone willing to take an honest look at the unbelievable reality of terror around us must admit that our decision makers have no verified recipes for changing the grim situation.

 

 

What is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting? A siege on the neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, recruiting army units to reinforce the police and destroying terrorists' homes. And the main solution: Netanyahu, carried on the waves of intimidation he has created singlehandedly for years, is now demanding that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stop his lies and incitement.

 

Rabbi Israel Meir Lau asked me several days ago, with great concern, the question each of us is mulling: What do we do?

 

Before suggesting solutions, we must admit that both sides are responsible for the deterioration on the ground. On the one hand, Abbas has been exposed as a systematic refuser of any peace proposal.

 

Netanyahu, on the other hand, believed that everything would turn out fine, without making any real proposal for changing and improving the lives of thousands of Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

 

Netanyahu believed that everything would turn out fine, without making any real proposal for changing and improving the lives of thousands of Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza (Photo: Knesset spokesperson)
Netanyahu believed that everything would turn out fine, without making any real proposal for changing and improving the lives of thousands of Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza (Photo: Knesset spokesperson)

 

A senior, hopeless state official told me that in his six years as prime minister, Netanyahu put his relative, Attorney Yitzhak Molcho, in charge of the Palestinian issue. "And that what it looks like," he added with irony. "Let Molcho win."

 

The conclusion is clear: The prime minister must appoint a professional team to manage the political, military and diplomatic conflict in the growing storm we are experiencing. With all due respect to Molcho, he cannot serve as an alternative to a professional and thorough brainstorming session which should be at the disposal of the State's leader.

 

There is something else we must admit: Netanyahu is in fact already dividing Jerusalem, and every dream about our capital's unification is off the agenda as a result of the recent popular uprising.

 

Nonetheless, what should be done now? First of all, the flames of the rhetoric must be lowered on both sides. Netanyahu must stop threatening Abbas, as that is not effective in any event. He must find a way for a dialogue with the Palestinian leadership, through international mediation, in order to find a new formula for the situation on the Temple Mount.

 

Unfortunately, given the poisonous atmosphere between Netanyahu and the Obama administration, it's hard to assume that there will be any volunteers in the White House to get Israel out of the current catastrophe. Only if the Americans reach the conclusion that the wave of terror could drown the entire region in streams of blood, emissaries may arrive from Washington.

 

Beyond the immediate steps which will be taken by the defense establishment to secure our safety, we can expect and demand that the Israeli leadership raise ideas that will instill hope among the new generation of Palestinians. They are not looking for a sovereign state, and not even for the two-state solution, but for a solution to their distress. For example, the right to leave and return to their place of residence, and basic civil rights similar to those to which citizens in Israel are entitled.

 

In the political arena, we should shake off the idea of a national unity government: It is the refuge of every politician who is unwilling to lead and reveal where he is headed on the Palestinian issue, and has basically become a crazy idea which does not help find a real solution.

 

And one last recommendation: It's time for Netanyahu to stop warning us that "they are about to destroy us." That is not on the agenda. If he continues to talk about the threat to destroy us instead of about the fences he is erecting around us, we may crumble on the inside.

 

So please, Mr. Netanyahu: Stop intimidating and start finding practical solutions for the horrific reality which has been created here, under your leadership.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.14.15, 22:08
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