How has NETANYAHU transformed ISRAEL?

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1. @ Michael Maguire: Michael, you left out David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, and Yitzhak Shamir! All the Prime Minister since Shamir, with the partial (only partial) exception of Netanyahu, have been appeasers (Peretz, Rabin, Barak, Olmert, even Sharon in his last years).

2. Very strong evidence that Bibi’s diplomatic outreach program to the Arab world is working came in the last few days in an interview with the foreign minister of Paleistan, of all places. A translation from EZ:

   Pakistan’s foreign minister:”Pakistan is interested in advancing its relations with Israel”

   Pakistani Foreign Minister Mahmoud Qureshi told an Israeli reporter that “Pakistan is interested in advancing its relations with Israel, but this is a question of the political situation in the region.”

   “Progress in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be very helpful,” he said, “and if the American plan succeeds in doing so, that’s great.”

   “We wish all the best for Israel, we have many friends in the region and we would like you to join them,” Qureishi concluded.
   This is perhaps more astonishing than even the statements from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
   Arab media has been reporting on this story, but it hasn’t been in any English outlets that I have seen yet.

   (h/t Yoel)

3. From today’s JP:

   U.S. rabbi speaks of growing relations between Israel and Gulf states
   “Of course, there is nervousness. It is a process. Now the good news is that the journey has begun,” U.S. Rabbi Marc Schneier said to Anderson. “And that is a part of the process.”

   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman
   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/REUTERS)
   American Rabbi Marc Schneier spoke with CNN last week about the continued improvement in relations between Israel and the Arab Gulf states and how he sees that the shifting tide is bringing us into an “exciting” time for interfaith politics.

   Schneier is the head of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which is a not-for-profit organization based in New York that focuses on improving Muslim–Jewish and black–Jewish relations.

   “My observations from an interfaith point of view is that the process has begun in terms of reaching the Promised Land of greater understanding, cooperation and coexistence among faith communities. And you see this now taking place throughout the region today,” Schneier told CNN.
   A few months ago, Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu visited Oman, an Arab Muslim state which has no diplomatic ties with Israel.

   He did so at the invitation of the country’s leader Sultan Sayyid Qaboos bin Said Al Said.

   Interviewer Becky Anderson touched on this topic. “It’s no secret that ties between Israel and certain Arab states are warming,” said Anderson. “Is Iran the driving force behind this rapprochement, as we might describe it?” she asked Schneier.

   “I believe there are three critical reasons for this rapprochement,” Schneier said.

   “First, there is the concern, the threat from Iran. It’s a common enemy that the Gulf and Israel share. Number two, there is an economic transformation that is taking place in the Gulf, particularly because of the diminishing demand for oil. And many Gulf leaders see Israel as that ultimate economic partner, Israel being the start of nation.

   “And then finally I believe the Gulf nations want to strengthen their relations with the United States, particularly with the Trump Administration. And they see Israel as the conduit not only to the Trump Administration but also to winning over the United States,” he concluded.

   Shifting the discussion to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Schneier believes that the Gulf can play a major role in the talks. In the past, however, he recognized that the peace initiative from the Gulf sates was always “Israel, Palestinians, here is the plan; work it out and then call us,” whereas now there is recognition among the Gulf leaders that they need some “skin in the game.”

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   In regards to relations with the United Arab Emirates, the “overriding consensus” among ranking ministers in the UAE is that relations with Israel are just “around the corner,” Schneier told the Jerusalem Post a couple weeks ago.

   Speaking with the Post from Abu Dhabi, where he was one of dozens of religious leaders whom Pope Francis addressed at an interfaith gathering on the second day of the pope’s three-day historic visit to the Gulf state, Schneier said he sat with a number of UAE ministers who said they were “looking forward” to ties with Israel, and that it was “not a question of if, but a question of when.”

   Not long ago the UAE, for the first time, recognized the State of Israel. Schneier said that there was “no question” that the formal recognition of the Jewish community is a “result of the warming of relations between the UAE and Israel.”

   When speaking to the Post, Schneier pointed out that there are possibly two main front runners to be first to establish and firm diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

   “If there is any country that deserves to be first it would be Bahrain. The king of Bahrain, since I first met him in the palace in 2011, has consistently and publicly demonstrated his support and wanting diplomatic relations with Israel,” Schneier said. “It was the king of Bahrain who said to me in 2016, which was a public statement, that, for a strong moderate Arab voice in the Gulf, we need a strong Israel.”

   However, Anderson pointed out the fact that when CNN reached out to the Bahraini leadership for comment, the Arab Gulf nation was “reticent” to confirm, citing possible public shyness over the subject.

   “Of course, there is nervousness. It is a process. Now the good news is that the journey has begun,” the American rabbi said to Anderson. “And that is a part of the process.”

   Tovah Lazaroff and Herb Keinon contributed to this report.

4. Michael Oren describes Netanyahu’s accomplishments for the Canadian Jewish News. Fully confirms this speakers observations.

   Michael Oren: Analyzing the Israeli election
   February 7, 2019
   Michael Oren
   Michael Oren served as Israel’s ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013. He is currently a member the Kulanu political party and was a part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition before the Knesset was dissolved. In the process of filming a new documentary about the upcoming Israeli election, I meet with him in Jaffa, to speak about the hot-button issues.

   What is the 2019 Israeli election really about?

   The same thing that the previous election was about. And the election before that and the election before that. The election’s about Benjamin Netanyahu.

   Why is this election only about Netanyahu? It’s not as if Israel suffers from a lack of issues.

   Because of the situation that Israel finds itself in. Israel is challenged in a way that no other country is challenged, in terms of its security – it’s physical security and it’s legitimacy. Netanyahu is perceived as the person that can defend Israel. He’s also an economist, a legislator and an expert politician, and no single challenger has been able to check off all those boxes in a generation.

   Is there anyone who can challenge Netanyahu this time around?

   The Israeli press is saying that Benny Gantz poses a serious threat to Netanyahu, but it’s too early to tell. It’s yet to be seen what his cadency will look like.

   What are the ramifications of the current investigations against Netanyahu?

   If there are indictments issued against the prime minster, it will rally his base around him. They’ll say that he’s been the victim of a witch hunt by the judicial system and by the police system. But it may cause difficulties for the prime minister to try and cobble together a coalition, because a number of parties have already said that they would not sit together in a coalition with a prime minister who has been indicted.

   READ: MICHAEL OREN’S POLARIZING WORDS

   Is Israel about to lose it’s democratic character?

   You might get that from reading Haaretz or the New York Times, but in fact, Israel is significantly more democratic today than it has been in any time in it’s history. You can go back and see how many women were involved in politics, how many people of eastern origins were in politics, how many gay people were in politics, how many Arabs were involved in politics. Israeli democracy is not in any danger.

   Is the nation state law, which you voted for, not undemocratic?

   No. The nation state law establishes Israel’s identity as the nation state of the Jewish people, but there are other laws that establish it as a democratic state. This law was important to counterbalance those laws, because of the great weight the judicial system, particularly the Supreme Court, was giving to Israel’s democratic nature over its Jewish nature. Now I think that will be more balanced.

   What are some of the challenges that you faced in the previous coalition?

   The greatest challenges were to get the members of the coalition to show sensitivity to American Jewry, to the Reform and Conservative movements. The need to see the big picture, not just the small picture.

   Why did Netanyahu take such a perceived hard stance against the Reform and Conservative movements, when it came to the Western Wall?

   The answer is simple: Netanyahu gave tremendous priority to maintaining his coalition. The ultra-Orthodox are the DNA of any coalition. You didn’t see the Labor party coming out and attacking the Orthodox, either – even on the issue of the Kotel. Everyone needs the Orthodox for their coalition. But more to the point, the prime minister was deeply disappointed, and maybe even angered, by the position of liberal American Jews, particularly the Reform movement.

   What was the reason?

   Their support of the Iran nuclear deal, which Netanyahu viewed as a dire threat to Israel’s security. The opposition of those same liberal and Reform elements to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal, and even their lack of support for Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, also angered him. I think the sense was that, if these American Jews were not going to stay with us on issues that are vital to our security and are vital to our identity, then why should any Israeli leader go out on a limb for them?

   That is a very hard-line position to take, is it not?

   I think the sense was that, on the Iran issue in particular, American Jewry’s position was similar to the one taken by many American Jews during the Second World War, in that American Jews did not act forcefully to shield and defend the Jewish people from an existential threat.

   Besides Iran, there’s also the issue of the conflict, yet it doesn’t seem to be a high priority for any party. The number 1 issue for Israelis is security. But they don’t see a connection between security and the peace process. If anything, the peace process endangers our security. Every time we have rounds of negotiations with the Palestinians, more Israelis die. Security is defence against missiles and defence against terrorism. After that comes housing and cost of living. In fact, peace with the Palestinians is dead last.

   Why is that?

   We have a very young population that doesn’t remember the Oslo Accords. All they’ve seen is that when Israel withdraws from territories, we get rockets and bombs and terrorists. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, refused to negotiate during eight years of the most pro-Palestinian U.S. president in history, Barack Obama. He’s going to reject anything that President Trump will give him. So Israelis don’t see any hope coming from him. There’s no one to negotiate with.

   But then what do you do with the millions of Palestinians? Will this not lead to a one-state solution?

   I wouldn’t call it a one-state solution. I think that a one-state solution in itself is an oxymoron. I think what Israelis are saying is that the status quo, as complex and difficult as it is, is preferable to a solution that will result in the death of thousands of Israelis. I’m a historian. I can tell you that the Palestinians never said yes to a two-state solution. Going back to 1937, 1947, the 2000s, they never said yes. So what makes anybody think that there’s some solution out there that they will say yes to?

   So what is the alternative?

   You say that the areas in Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, which are under Palestinian control now, should be what Netanyahu has called “a state minus,” or an “autonomy plus.”

   But Israel must continue to control the borders. Even tomorrow, if there was a Palestinian state, Israel would continue to control the borders. Otherwise we would have Iranian rockets in there within a week.

   What will Netanyahu’s legacy be?

   His legacy will be of a leader who saw Israel through its transformation from a largely middle-class society, to a high-tech society with a per capita GDP that rivals Japan. That’s a profound transformation in a very short period of time. He also provided us with security. He’s a person who made us a power in the world. This country, which is smaller than New Jersey, is thought of as a superpower, thanks in large to Benjamin Netanyahu.

   Are you running in these elections?

   I’m not running because my own party is not doing well in the polls. So I’ll sit this one out.

   This interview has been edited and condensed for style and clarity.

5. Israel has had two outstandingly competent and wise PM’s since its re-establishment in 1948.

   But which of them can be judged the most patriotic, beneficial to Israel’s prosperity and unwilling to surrender or appease Israel’s enemies — Golda Meir or Benjamin Netanyahu?