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Peace, Forsaken

Apr 19, 2019

Having secured a fifth term by allying with the far right, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is now under intense pressure to annex territories in the West Bank. But doing so would end all remaining hope of Palestinian statehood, turning Israel away from democracy and toward apartheid.

In this Big Picture, Hebrew University’s Shlomo Avineri notes that the country’s rightward turn is not just a passing phase, but a reflection of deeper demographic and cultural changes. Nonetheless, former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami points out that Israel’s center and left parties still could form an effective opposition by joining with the country’s increasingly ostracized Arab parties. Yet, as the Fawaz A. Gerges of the London School of Economics warns, Netanyahu’s divisive and bellicose policies will be felt both in Israel and in the region for decades to come.

As for the Palestinian question, Javier Solana of theCenter for Global Economy and Geopolitics is not hopeful, given that Israel’s descent into chauvinist nationalism is being abetted, rather than censured, by significant segments of the international community. Similarly, Richard N. Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations concludes that “land for peace” is no longer a viable paradigm, and that geostrategic and diplomatic perspectives on the region must change to reflect that reality.

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j. von Hettlingen Apr 22, 2019

Benjamin Netanyahu’s yearning for myopic gains has created long-term problems for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Having secured a fourth consecutive term, he is forming a coalition government with the ultra right, which has backed a new law, that would protect him from being indicted on pending corruption charges. In return he will have to deliver – annexing territories in the West Bank, which would end all remaining hope of Palestinian statehood. On his watch Israel is veering away from democracy and toward apartheid. According to the five commenters – Javier Solana, Richard N. Haass, Fawaz A. Gerges, Shlomo Avineri and Shlomo Ben-Ami – the prospects for peace are bleak.
Javier Solana is not hopeful that the Palestinian question will be resolved, given the support Israel has received for its chauvinist nationalism from “significant segments” of the international community, ranging from illiberal leaders like Trump, Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Arab autocrats, whose hostility towards Iran outweighs their sympathy for the Palestinians. Netanyahu’s unholy alliance with the Arabs against Iran and his “Faustian pact” with the far right to advance their expansionist policy had come at the expense of democracy as well security. The only hope for peace is to be patient and wait for a new generation of “enlightened leadership” to emerge.
Fawaz A. Gerges condemns Netanyahu’s “divisive and bellicose” policies, which will be felt both in Israel and in the region for decades to come. He ran an openly racist and chauvinistic election campaign, saying Israel was “not a state of all its citizens”. A controversial “nation state” law was passed last year declaring that only Jews have the unique right of self-determination. It also downgraded Arabic’s status as an official language.
Netanyahu has left his country deeply divided and morally stained, and the lasting consequences of his tenure are already obvious. By defining Israel’s constitutional identity on the basis of racial exclusivity and Jewish supremacy, he disenfranches Arab Israelis and subjugates the Palestinians. Adding a “culture-war dynamic to the mix”, he has turned a clash over land ownership into a “clash of civilizations.” This will only “perpetuate radicalism and extremism on all sides.”
Richard N. Haass concludes that “territory-for-peace” is no longer a viable paradigm. As Israeli politics has shifted to the right, assumptions that underpinned a half-century of Middle East policy have been invalidated by geostrategic development. He says Israel is not alone to blame for the breakdown of the peace process. Following the1967 six-day war, the country did make an effort, only to be let down by Syria over the Golan Heights. Peace talks with the Palestinians went nowhere, because they were and still are, irreconciliably divided.
He proposes a “paradigm shift in how we think about the Middle East, not because a better diplomatic model has presented itself (it has not), but because the current paradigm is increasingly at odds with reality.” He suggests a recognition of Israel’s territorial gains, and Trump’s “gifts” to Netanyahu. Jared Kushner’s peace plan “is unlikely to deal with the territorial, political, and refugee issues that are central to the creation of a Palestinian state.” It is more likely “to focus on offering economic incentives to Palestinians in an effort to encourage them to compromise. It is unlikely to succeed.”
Shlomo Avineri notes that the country’s “rightward turn is not just a passing phase, but a reflection of deeper demographic and cultural changes,” which are here to stay. Israel is no longer the same country it was founded by David Ben-Guerion, due to waves of immigrants from all over the world. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Israel had seen the arrival of over one million Jews from Eastern Europe, who were used to autocratic rule. They believe in a strong state with a “hierarchical leadership structure, having little patience for outsiders or enemies (in this case, Arabs).” They reject democracy and want to see in Netanyahu a counterweight to Putin, although they have no desire to live in Putin’s Russia themselves.
Shlomo Ben-Ami points out that Israel’s centre and left parties still could form an “effective opposition by joining with the country’s increasingly ostracised Arab parties.” Palestinians stayed away from the polls, because Netanyahu’s contender, Benny Gantz was not an option – no commitment to the two-state solution. Those who wanted to vote were harassed by Netanyahu’s supporters. It was deplorable that Gantz’s Blue and White alliance, and the Labor Party did not muster enough courage to “stand up to Netanyahu’s maligning of Israeli Arabs as enemies of the state, but also refused even to consider forming a parliamentary alliance with Arab parties.”
Whether Netanyahu is going to serve a full term will have little impact on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, because many Israelis no longer believe in a two-state solution, putting the blame on the Palestinians for their failure to secure peace. And Palestinians are too preoccupied with problems to get their act together.
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Jaap Bosma Apr 20, 2019

Avinery is falsely blaming Israeli unwillingness for peace on the Palestinians. But the Palestinians are not to blame for Zionists racism, nor for Zionists wishing to entrench their racism. The Zionists are to blame for that. They have the power to give Palestinians full equality, not the other way around. And the Palestinians simply have a right to that, regardless of them supporting families of "terrorists" or "freedom fighters". Israel has enough terrorists and war criminals of itself that it supports (e.g. the air port is called after ethnic cleansing mastermind Ben Gurion). What racist nonsense by Shlomo Avineri!
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Jaap Bosma Apr 20, 2019

Israel is not a real democracy, it is a racist democracy. In 1948 it ethnically cleansed over 83% of the Palestinian population. Giving the remaining 17% a right to vote without sharing power with their parties shows that this is just for show. The 83% should get their right of return and their right to vote!
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