Opinion
Lies of the Left
Martin Sherman
Published: 16.05.07, 08:32
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51 Talkbacks for this article
1. A thoroughly insightful article.
BigE ,   Israel   (05.16.07)
Thank you, Dr. Sherman. It's about time someone drew logical conclusions about Israeli economic growth and the ever-elusive "peace process". Delusional wishful thinking on the left and political inertia on the right have screwed the country royally. If Israel ever gets to function as a real representational democracy then astute political decision-making together with economic prosperity and a streamlined "smart" army will make our tiny sliver of a country into a real dynamo.
2. Political Scientist not economist
Eric ,   Tel Aviv   (05.16.07)
How is the fact that the Dollar is at a low against all currencies any indication that Peace is not good for the Israeli economy? The underlying premise here is that Israel is doing well regardless to the peace process, and the proof is the Shekel / Dollar rate. If this was true the Shekel would be at a high against the Pound and Euro too. Since this is not the case the article is without a point.
3. when 2/3 of israeli jews realize Oslo failed - we will be ok
aaron ,   ra'anana   (05.16.07)
4. Just another reason for Peretz to go home!
YMBMY ,   Modiin, Israel   (05.16.07)
Give Bibi credit for engineering this turnaround with his privatization initiatives. Peretz as a defense minister is a joke and having any position near finance is scary.
5. Everything is ok
enzo ,   london,uk   (05.16.07)
Right? Left? It's only a show! It has to be a show! Political parties are the people's game...! Let the people have fun...! Reality is a completely different affair. Israel is in very good shape and will do even better in the near future, despite politicians, qassams and international outlook!
6. Please Sherman--publish in international media!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(05.16.07)
7. Winograd--Oslo
Israel Israeli ,   Israel   (05.16.07)
I've always been amazed that there has been no investigation ala Winograd into Oslo and the disaster it has brought to both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. I'm sure that Belin Peres and company acted in good faith, but instead of continuing to trumpet their discredited ideas they should admit their mistakes and retire from public life.
8. Unfortunately, no surprises here.
The Doc ,   Haifa, Israel   (05.16.07)
Nobody should expect the Left to come forward and admit error. This has NEVER happened while Communism was rampant, and there is no reason for it to change its ways now, whne it fights for its survival. The Leftist ideology is like a cult which feeds disinformation and thrives on conflict and perpetual dishonesty. The Left will not admit its faults anymore than Islam will. As a matter of fact, Communism in all its forms is a religion, a cult whose members support anti-social behavior (liying and misleading its followers) and trying hard to find a "raison d'etre". It is constantly looking for borders to cross, social frameworks to shatter and generally create an atmosphere of discontent with or without reason bringing the society to the point of national suicide and cultural bankrupcy. To see that is enough to watch the unholy alliance of the Western Left and the Terrorist Islam - how can the anti-religion Communism ally itself with a Fundamentalist religion? The only explanation is that both thrive on the same concepts and re-inforce each other through destruction, hatred and national rape of the Western values. Marx said that "...religion is the Opium of the people [or masses]..." - and to paraphrase that, so is Communism! On the other hand, Lenin said that "The West is so hungry for profits that they will sell us the rope to hang them with." We must make sure that THAT will never happen.
9. And did we mention the demography scam?
Ilan ,   Ariel   (05.16.07)
As with the economic growth only through peace the fixed demography figures is another case study. And the combined cost of the wall and the Gaza withdrawal ........ The Israeli public needs to pay better attention to how the Left makes the situation worse than it should
10. Historical Truth? Since when do Piss Now care about that?
Dudu ,   Kfar Sava   (05.16.07)
11. like always-a full proof logic by sherman!
oritush   (05.16.07)
12. great piece, and #5-since u r in London
Ora Levi   (05.16.07)
i m sure bombing of OUR sitizens is no bid stress for u. Since r in london u can afford to "have fun" and close yo eyes at the truth. I guarantee that if u lived in sderot or up north u would be less conserned with fun and more activating yo brain.
13. #2 Political Scientist not economist
Martin Sherman   (05.16.07)
You write: "The underlying premise here is that Israel is doing well regardless to the peace process, and the proof is the Shekel / Dollar rate". Wrong!! The proof that "Israel is doing well regardless [of] the peace process" is the undeniable fact that ...Israel is doing well, regardless of the peace process. This is reflected inn the balance of payments, capita GDP, low inflation and interest rates, high foreign investment ... AND the strength of its currency against all major currencies. For the Shekel's current strength against the Euro see: http://www.exchange-rates.org/history/EUR/ILS/G/90 For the Shekel's current strength British Pound see: http://www.exchange-rates.org/history/GBP/ILS/G/90
14. Sherman
gabriela ben ari ,   jerusalem   (05.16.07)
Have you given serious thought to enter politics? PM ?MK? somehting that am Israel would certainly benefit from please consider my request :-)
15. Personal request to Mr. Sherman
Ze'ev ,   Modiin, Israel   (05.16.07)
Dear Mr. Sherman I have enjoyed your as usually thoughfull article, its clearity and simple untwisted logic. I am following your articles for past 3 or 4 years and always found them inline with my own views. You should seriously consider entering politics, our country profoundly misses people like yourself. You should be more vocal, more proactive to deseminate these ideas to the general public. Scores of israelis are brainwashed by the left agenda for the last 15+ years. I know that you are part of Jerusalem summit group, you guys should form an independent party and run for the Knesset, seriously we need you there! Please consider it seriously.
16. sherman would have my vote if he entered politics
yonatan ,   Israel   (05.16.07)
17. Shermans views are common sense
Norman   (05.16.07)
The views of not giving land for peace in current situation is Torah in Hilchos Shabbos chap 329 Obviously Israels existance is nothing but miraculous and more and more are realizing and thus becoming Baal teshuva. returning to G-D and his tora and mitzbvoth
18. Dishonest
Joshua ,   Jersey CIty, NJ   (05.16.07)
When a purported "scholar" starts his article by attacking the integrity of "the left" or "the right" you know that it is substituting a political screed for analysis. Yearly economic indicators go up and down, and are subject to a variety of factors. But the Oslo Accords, although not without problems, opened Israel to a huge number of markets that it had trouble penetrating beforehand, in particular that of China. Even the Arab boycott is now largely symbolic, and any Arab businessman who actually cares about doing well finds ways around it to do business with Israel. Then there is of course the peace deals with Egypt and Jordan, which even when "cold" allow the free flow of goods and prevent blockages and all out warfare that would wreck the economy (and no, the month long hostilities in Lebanon does not come close to the actual wars that Israel used to have to fight for its existance. Peace is good for the economy. If the author wants to go back to the good old days of the 60s and 70s, when Israel was boycotted, blockaded, and under siege from actual armies, then that's his choice. But that doesn't make him rational.
19. #18 We're not better now than in the 60's and 70's!!!
(05.16.07)
20. # 18 Joshua and Dishonesty
Martin Sherman   (05.16.07)
Joshua, 1. Israel established diplomatic ties with China and India in early 1992 under the Shamir government well before the Oslo Accords. 2. The collapse of the Oslo process has done nothing to impede the burgeoning trade with these nations. Was it ignorance or dishonesty that led you create the impression that arises form your talkback?
21. More dishonesty from Dr Sherman
Joshua ,   Jersey City, NJ   (05.17.07)
Diplomatic relations were started just before (not "well before") the Oslo accords, but after the Madrid Conference, which was the first step that set the stage for the Oslo accords. It was only when Israel made gestures indicating it would accept land for peace that the diplomatic isolation fell apart. And trade quickly rose after the Oslo accords. Why didn't trade collapse when the Oslo process fell apart? s Oslo was very good for Israel in that it was a one-way ratchet. Once ties are established, it's harder to break them. That's why the peace treaty and relations with Egypt have remained normal even when public opinion in that country overwhelmingly turned against Israel. When Israel was willing to try the peace process, it did quite well. It reaps the economic and diplomatic benefits of demonstrating that it's a good neighbor, even when the peace process with the Palestinians itself didn't work very well. No one can credibly state that Israel's economic and diplomatic standing did not increase when it offered to make peace. If this is what Tel Aviv University is presenting as a "scholar" then it's reputation as a world class university is in deep, deep trouble.
22. # 21 Scholars and reputation
Martin Sherman   (05.17.07)
1. Oh, so now it's Madrid and not Oslo. Soon we'll be running out of capitals… and excuses. 2. As you probably know Shamir went to Madrid on the basis of overt rejection of the "land for peace" idea (I was a ministerial advisor to the govt. at the time). Moreover the Palestinians were not allowed an independent delegation to the conference where they were represented by the Jordanians. As you probably also know no real progress resulted from the Madrid Conference – which is why out of desperation the Rabin government embarked on the ill advised Oslo path -- "well after" (see 3. below) the establishment of relations with India and China. 3. I suppose that "well before" and "just before" are a matter of opinion. However as a matter of fact, both China and India had established diplomatic relations under the intransigent Shamir government 20 months before the Oslo Accord. Is 20 months "well before" or "just before"??? Let's let the readers decide 4. As far as academic reputation is concerned, surely the plethora of scholars who endorsed a policy (Oslo and its derivatives) that failed so disastrously and whose "expert" assessments proved so spectacularly unfounded, must have greater aspersions cast on their professional competency. Surely they must be considered to have brought greater discredit to the reputations of both their disciplines and institutes with which they are associated, than those whose words of caution proved so accurate and well-founded. Or do you recommend that we totally sacrifice factual correctness on the altar of political correctness??
23. Joshua's "dishonesty"
The Doc ,   Haifa, Israel   (05.17.07)
Joshua, what's the point to your rant? While it is generally corect that Peace is good to economy, if you read the article more carefully you would have understood that the facts show a different picture. Israel has proven to the world that even under relentless attacks from terrorists and the Leftist fifth column, not to mention the constant genocide threat coming from Iran (tell me, do you actually read the news?), Israel is capable of maintaining a powerful, robust and growing economy. The world sees and admires the behavior of the Israeli market before, during and after the 2nd Lebanon war. The $ and EUR slide against the Shekel, the stock exchange is healthy, exports are up and customers and investors flock to buy Israeli products (or whole companies). The visibility from NJ is not clear enough I'm afraid. Why don't you come over here and see for yourself? I forgot however that as usual, Leftists prefer to see what suits THEIR view. And stop reiterating the old Left and Palestinian slogans about Israel having to be a "good neighbor". Tell me are you for real? Who attacked whom and who is terrorizing whom? Israel proved that it is a "good neighbor" and made Peace with two sane neighbors - Jordan and Egypt. Then terrorists moved the front to Lebanon. We had to deal with that TWICE, thanks to people like you who seem to think that Israel is supposed to bleed before has the right to defend itself, and even then, it must be civilized, regardles of the fact that the terrorists do whatever they want behind the protective umbrella of Leftist imbeciles in the West (ISM comes to mind). When Israel tried to make Peace with the Palestinians (remember idiot Barak giving back half of Jerusalem which was NEVER Palestinian) and 99% of the "disputed trerritories" as the UN labels them, all it got in return was blood, murder and rape. Now Syria has the nerve to say that if Israel does not return the lands Syria lost as a result of ITS OWN AGGRESSION, it will go to war - AGAIN. If this time they lose Damascus, don't blame it on Israel! In short, don't regale us with your 2c politics and economic demagogy. Having lived through several full wars started by our "good neighbors" and being under constant attacks by peoples whose publicly declared purpose is to murder Jews and wipe Israel off the map, you don't expect us to listen to the likes of you, lecturing us from the comfort of his sofa in NJ (or from wherever you really are). The only "dishonesty" I can see here is yours. You have a long way to go before labeling anybody as "dishonest". Give us the credit that we are able to sniff out your kind and respond accordingly. Your rants won't change the facts and your disinformation won't work.
24. So I guess...
Joshua ,   Jersey City   (05.17.07)
...Dr. Sherman would prefer the years of embargo, diplomatic and economic isolation, a third world economy, the need for economic assistance, and actual warfare where Israel lost soldiers by the thousands. With respect to Oslo itself, the good doctor ignores the numerous nations that established relations, and economic ties with Israel only after Oslo. Oslo did not lead to peace with the Palestinians, although it has set a framework by which a final deal will eventually have to be set. More importantly, it solidified Israel's diplomatic and economic presence. Solid enough that it can handle the relatively low-intensity warfare it faces and still have a prospering economy. Peace is obviously better for Israel than war for its long term economic prospects. That doesn't mean it's an economic basket case now. But that's also because despite Dr. Sherman's cries of Oslo being a miserable failure, that Israel remains militarily strong and secure. I understand Dr. Sherman's puerile need to lash out at "the left" and "peaceniks." He was an advisor to what is acknowledged to be one of the most dishonest and unsuccessful administrations in Israeli history. This kind of juggling the #s would never pass a peer review even among sympathetic professors. So he is relegated to drafting opinion pieces where he can fudge the facts.
25. #21, what you are saying is plainly untrue
Danny   (05.17.07)
Israel made diplomatic "gestures" offering "land for peace" immediately after 1967 and this was Israel's formal position until the Begin government. If diplomatic isolation was due to a lack of movement on this track, why did Israel's "isolation" not fall apart in 1979 when Israel gave back the Sinai? Doesn't occur to you that India may have been able to have relations with Israel because it's previous sponsor the USSR - which was virulently anti-Israel - had fallen apart? Also if you look at the post-Oslo period then that growth will have come almost entirely from High-Tech - we are talking bubble period here - and Government deficit spending, both of which are utterly independent of any "peace process". In Egypt - and in Jordan - the mood has ALWAYS been utterly against peace with Israel and a quick scan of the media would confirm this, Sadat was murdered because he made peace and he is the only Arab leader to have any REAL claim to victory. Why have links stayed in place in those countries, because they are dictatorships dependent on US money. Countries break and make diplomatic links all the time. Egypt was isolated in the Arab world post-peace and then wasn't. Post 1967, the entire Eastern Block cut off relations. As for Israel "doing well when willing to try the peace process" again this is patently untrue. The growth figures don't show it and to claim Israel "diplomatic standing" was enhanced post-Oslo is to either be a liar and/or a fool. Israel's highest international standing was in the immediate aftermath of 1967 and has been going downhill since 1977. As for "trade quickly rising after Oslo" I assume you have figures to back that claim up? Or is this more unsubstantiated - and false - claims? Because Israeli Ministry of Finance show booming investment and trade since 2002 and far, far stronger growth than was achieved under Oslo. So unless you plan to actually back up your statements with some real facts as opposed to the "credible" - which is easily shown in your case to be synonymous with false - then it is you not Dr Sherman who comes out with egg on his face. PS Israel has repeatedly shown itself to be a good neighbours, it is our neighbours who are bad....
26. Sherman is great
yosef ,   Tel Aviv   (05.17.07)
Great article, thanks for presenting the facts and for taking the time to counter "Joshua". Since it is all true, why did Israel elect Barak after Netanyahu? Why did Olmert, Sharon and Livni convert to the extreme-Left? I dont get it.
27. # 24 Fudging the Facts and Peer Reviews
Martin Sherman   (05.17.07)
Joshua, 1. Which facts would those be: - the growth rates in the pre- and post-Oslo? periods - the figures on the current economic performance? - dates on which Indo-Israeli and Sino-Israeli relations were established? These can all be easily verified. But why bother if politically correct myth is more important than factually correct figures? 2. As for your "… would never pass a peer review", you are probably right. Would those "peers" be the "erudite experts" who promised peace and prosperity in the wake of Oslo?? Or those "professional prodigies" who predicted that the Disengagement would bring stability security? Or the "learned luminaries" who assured us that once we left Lebanon, we could forget the Hizbolla?? One can but wonder how Bernard Lewis would weather their "reviews". 3. "…Sherman's puerile need to lash out at "the left". I suppose you did notice I was hardly more complimentary to the Right. Why so selective? Or is "fudging the facts" a natural reflex. 4. " …was an advisor to what is acknowledged to be one of the most dishonest and unsuccessful administrations in Israeli history." Interesting. Acknowledged by whom?? Or is that a politically correct axiom not to be disputed by facts. Hmmm, let's see. Was that the administration that brought a 6.6 % growth rate in the last three years of its four-year term? The administration under which Israel established diplomatic relations with India and China (about 40% of humanity)? The administration under which the foundations were made for the (by-and-large) successful absorption of the Soviet immigration with all its far reaching strategic significance for Israel? The administration under which Palestinian terror was less than half than that in the post-Oslowian "peace" era? Or is that "fudging the figures/facts" too??
28. #24 and more specious claims
Danny   (05.17.07)
With respect to Oslo I am utterly amazed you can claim even a shred of good from it. Rather than "setting a framework", it is hard to argue that it has not destroyed for ever the argument of "land for peace". If you lived in Israel and not Jersey then you'd know that hardly anyone here believes that there is a cheque called land that Israel can cash with the Palestinians for peace. There is a similar scepticism on the Palestinian side. As for solidifying Israel's economic presence, I think the figures speak for themselves. Strip out government deficit spending and a bubble-driven IT growth and Oslo period's growth is basically zero. Another sign of long-distance criticism is your long-distance tolerance for Oslo bringing of murder to Israeli doorsteps. Yes we fought wars but they were intermittent and with the exception of 1948, soldiers paid the price without our children and civilians having to make a quick prayer before heading out to a cafe, bar, club, restaurant. I can tell you that was far, far more damaging to Israeli society than the Yom Kippur war. I think it is hard to argue that Shamir was more unsuccessful that say Rabin or Peres or Barak all of whom took a relatively peaceful situation and brought death to Israeli civilians. If you are going to argue it than maybe come up with some facts. Maybe you could name a country that Israel now trades with purely because of Oslo? Maybe you can point out an economic sector that grew in solely response to Oslo - ie by showing a strong correlation with the "peace process"? Maybe you could show that Israel needed less economic assistance during that time rather than since 2002 (one of your claims)? Or maybe you'd prefer to state the "obvious" - though as far as any actual facts show it is only obviously wrong - and throw insults around?
29. Joshua, you are right: you "guess"
The Doc ,   Haifa, Israel   (05.17.07)
While Peace would be better for Israel (and for its "good neighbors") fact is that every time Israel makes a concession, that step is percieved as a weakness and as yet another sign that if the Muslims keep at it for long enough, they will break Israel. The proven Israeli desire for Peace must NOT be backed up by mindless, reckelss and suicidal capitualtion just to make the Leftists, Jihadists and their acolytes happy. Again, you keep drumming the Leftist mantra which unfortunately has ben shattered too m ny times to have any face value: give back land and you will get Peace. No Joshua, only decisive actions, relentless building of our economy DESPITE what the Left and their "good neighbors" think or do, backed up by a determined and proven will to stay alive and prosper in a sea of madness, harrassement and continued threat to existence - are the right actions. Even people like you can see that we build, they destroy, we cherish life, they live to die, we extend our hand in peace (for over 50 years), they bite it and try to cut it off, we educate for science and progress, they educate for terror and backward religious fundamentalism - should I go on? We've had enough of that for 2000 years. Now we don't need to decide on our actions based on "advice" from people who at best have no clue what has been happenng here, or worse, they are bent on our demise. Why don't you go out and walk your dogs instead of parroting old slogans whose time has passed? Why do you take part in an Israeli forum from afar, displaying your ignorance and malice? After all, you can be sure that nobody here will act on your "advice" anyway. But you know that already, so the main reason must be something else and in that case, your dishonesty is glaring.
30. It's not a question of right or left. The entrire structure
Apartheid ,   Boston USA   (05.17.07)
of the modern world rests upon the principle that states shall not seize territory in war. Perhaps you would like to return th the way things were before WWII?
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