Can he bring the luck? Kerry
Photo: AP
Real opportunity for change
Op-ed: Like social protest and new politics, peace negotiations making a glorious comeback
We must say "Yes, this time there is a chance it will happen," and repeat it like a mantra, like the multiplication table our teacher asked that we remember by heart. "We deserve to live in peace with our neighbors." We must repeat these words with the same conviction in which we commit ourselves to making money, raising our children and saving up for retirement.
The peace talks went out of fashion, but just like the social protest and the new politics, they will make a glorious comeback: Israeli society of 2013 has learned so many things since the last time true diplomatic negotiations were held. While the public is poorer and more religious, it is also open and technological.
Renewed Negotiations
Orly Azoulay
Op-ed: Bitter skepticism, great cynicism in US cannot diminish Kerry's Mideast achievement
The public lives on Facebook and feels totally at home there. It is also using the social network wisely and is talking freely about its leaders. The public is very much aware – and is also learning from our neighbors – of how significant the voice of the masses is. More and more people in Israel understand today that war is bad and peace is good. You don't have to be an analyst to understand that peace is good for business, but some politicians who support the settlement enterprise need to be reminded how easy it was to make millions in an exit during times of peace and how difficult it will be to continue doing business in times of war.
We do not have many options, and Netanyahu also realizes now that the ball is in his hands. He realizes that the European boycott further isolates from the rest of the world and pushes us into dark corners.
The talks carry with them a fresh spirit because they offer the last escape route from the snowball we have found ourselves in and also because the current pressure on us is greater than in the past.
It's a good thing you came, Kerry. People say that in life everything is about timing and a little luck. This time, the timing is the fruit of the efforts we have made over the past few years. Maybe you'll bring the luck.
