The silence of the deceived

The secret of Netanyahu’s charm is that while he systematically lies to all sides, his lies neutralize each other: Arabs don’t believe him even when he talks in favor of a Palestinian state, and the right doesn’t believe him even when he denies ‘two states.’

By Elyakim Haetzni, YNET

Benjamin Netanyahu did it again: A “zig” in the election campaign (there will be no Palestinian state) and a “zag” in front of the European Union’s foreign minister, Federica Mogherini (two states). In other countries, such a conduct by a misleading prime minister would have led to a governmental crisis, or at least a public row. Here, it didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

It’s true that former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir declared that “it is permitted to lie for the Land of Israel,” but he was never caught lying against the Land of Israel.

The secret of Netanyahu’s charm is that while he systematically lies to all sides, the lies neutralize each other: The Arabs don’t believe him even when he talks in favor of a Palestinian state, and the right doesn’t believe him even when he denies the “two states.” That’s the reason why no one gets excited anymore.

But imagine the face of the deceived side, when one day the die is actually cast and Netanyahu, with superior innocence, will ask: “Didn’t I tell you?” And he did tell, but he also said the opposite.

In his latest meeting with Mogherini, Netanyahu suggested what the Arabs had demanded from the very first moment (Photo: Amit Shabi)
In his latest meeting with Mogherini, Netanyahu suggested what the Arabs had demanded from the very first moment (Photo: Amit Shabi)

When that happens, the settlers, who are meant to be the victims of this trick, will only have themselves to blame. Why it was them and their supporters who gave Netanyahu the “miracle” of 30 Knesset seats in the elections, thanks to which he feels he has the public’s trust – despite the unreliability and lack of integrity, which he barely hides.

And just like they ignored Ariel Sharon’s faulty methods when he advanced a goal they cared about, they are telling themselves today that Netanyahu is lying to the Arabs, not to them. And just like they paid dearly for handling Sharon with kid gloves (yes, the right knows how to treat people with kid gloves too), they will pay for handling Netanyahu’s corrupt methods with kid gloves.

The “blocs,” for example. Leaving them in our hands and building in them, as opposed to freezing the “isolated communities,” is at the heart of his doctrine. And Jerusalem is at the top of the “bloc doctrine.” In Israel and in the world, this message has been received with consent, and no one is asking why there are parts of Jerusalem, which was “joined together,” in which the construction is almost completely frozen, at Netanyahu’s personal order? How can this contradiction be settled?

Moreover, in his latest meeting with Mogherini, Netanyahu suggested what the Arabs had demanded from the very first moment and what Netanyahu has always firmly rejected: To start the negotiations with a discussion on the borders. Suddenly, without any discussion or decision in any body, Netanyahu is offering to “discuss the borders of the blocs” – a sophisticated wording which is an insult to his people’s intelligence. Isn’t it clear that that is the exact Arab-American proposal to discuss the 1967 borders minus the “blocs”? And as an advance payment, he added an immediate concession: That way, it will be clear in which parts of the West Bank Israel will be able to continue building.

According to the media, Netanyahu also offered an interim agreement, under which in return for letting Israel build in the “blocs” – the Arabs will be permitted to build in the rest of the area. This basically means giving up on the majority of Area C. But even after this was published, no one was shocked.

This radical change in Israel’s stance, the adoption of Meretz’s platform by the Likud leader – while the fools are celebrating the alleged “victory of the right” – was received with complete silence in the communities of the eastern Samaria hills, which include at least 100,000 inhabitants who are sentenced to degeneration and then expulsion in the Yesha Council, which is supposed to represent them,

in the Bayit Yehudi party, which pretends to be their parliamentary emissary, and in the national core of the Likud – from Zeev Elkin southward – which control the party today.

Even the very last right-wing MK, who has the power to bring down the 61-member government on his own, is keeping silent.

The silence of the deceived? No, the silence of those who want to be deceived.