THIS IS ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT
By Martin Sherman
Recent developments reveal a dramatic erosion in Netanyahu’s strategic perspectives that makes it impossible to justify his continued incumbency.
Prisoner releases only embolden terrorists…they encourage precisely the terrorist blackmail they are supposed to defuse. – Binyamin Netanyahu, Fighting Terrorism (1995)
What sort of people and government would agree to free the murderers of its own children and do it in the name of a presumed “goodwill” toward irreconcilable enemies? What might this people and government be thinking, especially when its hoped for quid pro quo is an obvious delusion? – Prof. Louis Rene Beres, “A crime without a punishment,” July 16, 2013
Binyamin Netanyahu must resign or be induced to do so.
By any measure of moral integrity and/or statesmanship, he simply cannot be allowed to continue to function as prime minister. He has deceived the public and misled the nation. He has defrauded the voters on whose support he gained political prominence and on whose ballots he ascended to power. He has reneged on past pledges and renounced the values he professed to cherish.
But worst of all, he has betrayed himself and the most basic principles he himself espoused as the foundation of his political credo and which he led the Israeli electorate and the Jewish people to believe he was committed to.
Repeatedly proved unequal to challenges
Netanyahu is a man of extraordinary talent with a remarkably impressive record of achievement.
He was an extraordinary UN ambassador, a superb foreign minister, and a highly effective finance minister. Indeed, in most industrial countries, he might even have made an outstanding prime minister.
But not in Israel. Here the demands are different and more taxing than elsewhere, the margins of error narrower, and the cost of error not only greater, but potentially tragic and terminal.
Accordingly, despite his undeniable capabilities, despite the distinction with which he has served his country in various capacities over four decades, as the nation’s chief executive he has proved himself – time and time again – unequal to crucial challenges.
Never his most caustic critic
Readers of this column will recall that I have never been one of Netanyahu’s most caustic critics.
Although I have differed sharply with him over several of his decisions, I have defended him, in both the local and the foreign press, against the almost maniacal malevolence of the media toward him (and his spouse), and its Pavlovian impulse to hold him responsible for every misfortune that befalls mankind – from droughts in New Mexico to floods in Southeast Asia.
As recently as January 10, in “Netanyahu: The Pathology,” I wrote, “Netanyahu has been given little credit for the numerous impressive feats he, and the governments he headed, have achieved,” and remarked that “the venomous ad hominem attacks on the PM… have long exceeded the limits of rational criticism and reasoned dissent.”
However, recent developments reveal a disturbing – indeed, dramatic – erosion in his strategic perspectives and policy preferences that make it impossible to justify his continued incumbency – even for a relatively restrained and respectful critic such as myself.
Collapse of Israeli political resolve
Of course, this erosion culminated in what can only be seen as a total collapse of Israeli political resolve: The egregious decision of the Netanyahu government not only to agree to the resumption of negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state, but to agree that the resumption be predicated on an prior agreement for the release of over 100 convicted perpetrators of some of the most heinous acts of slaughter imaginable.
This of course makes a mockery of solemn pledges that Israel would not agree to any a priori concessions as a condition for resuming negotiations with the Palestinians.
Moreover, Israel has been impeding construction in the Jewish communities across the pre-1967 lines with a self-imposed building freeze/slowdown, thus agreeing, albeit partially, to another Palestinian demand for the resumptions of talks.
Worse, even if Israel has not explicitly agreed to accept the pre- 1967 lines as a basis for negotiations, there are strong indications that it has tacitly complied with this calamitous condition. According to numerous press reports, the text of the invitation accepted by Israel states that “the goal of the negotiations is to implement the two-state solution on the basis of the ’67 lines with minor land swaps.”
So whether Israel acknowledges it or not, it has agreed to participate in a discussion on the establishment of a Palestinian state whose frontiers will be the indefensible pre-1967 lines – unless otherwise (mutually) agreed.
Quite apart from the fact that the entire issue of land swaps has a demeaning ring of “bartering birthrights,” the fact that they will have to be “mutually agreed” provides the Palestinians veto power over any deviation from the pre- 1967 “Auschwitz borders” in the delineation of their proposed state.
Staggering surrender
The decision taken last Sunday represents a staggering strategic surrender by Israel.
After all, as recently as May 2011, Netanyahu defiantly stood up, publicly, to Barack Obama and rejected the very formula (sans the prisoner release) he is now accepting.
Netanyahu’s courageous eloquence won him massive support across the US American political system including from senior Democrats such as Sen. Harry Reid who in effect endorsed his defiance of Obama at the AIPAC conference that took place at the time in Washington.
All this – and more – has now been irrevocably lost by a decision, substantively unjustifiable and morally indefensible, that will confer on the government the “privilege” of entering into negotiations on a formula for making the country geographically untenable, with an entity headed by a soon-to-be octogenarian leader, who is now in the ninth year of his four-year term, and whose authority is rejected by a wide swathe of the population he purports to represent.
You couldn’t make this stuff up.
Especially when you stop to consider that it is the Palestinians, allegedly suffering under the yoke of “occupation,” who should have the greater interest in pursuing the reopening of talks and hence be expected to be the party ready to make concessions, rather than delaying them by making exorbitant demands of Israel.
But this act from the theater of the absurd has far more profound and pernicious consequences than the exasperation, outrage and demoralizing despair that it generates in wide segments of the Israeli public and of the Jewish people across the globe.
Making Israel a laughing stock
It is difficult to overstate the gravity of the ramifications of the Netanyahu government’s decision.
It sends an unequivocal message to the Palestinians, the Arabs and the international community that no position articulated by Israel need be taken seriously. For Israel has proved that no matter how outlandish, outrageous, macabre or scandalous the demands of its adversaries, the Jews will eventually submit – irrespective of how resolutely they feign opposition to them initially.
The positions that Israel has now retreated to would have been unthinkable barely a decade and a half ago. Judging from the vision that Yitzhak Rabin articulated for a permanent agreement with the Palestinians in his final address to the Knesset in 1995, it is highly plausible to surmise that they would have been contemptuously rejected by the Noble Peace laureate, who at the time was fiercely attacked by then-leader of the opposition Netanyahu – for being overly concessionary.
As I said, you couldn’t make this stuff up.
By failing to withstand pressure, Israel has not only invited inevitable further pressure, but has crippled its ability to conduct effective negotiations in the future.
No matter what fork-tongued, fallacious flattery it might reap in the short run for its “flexibility,” Israel has made itself a laughing stock, unable to adhere to any principle, no matter how crucial, for any length of time.
Rebuffing ‘rationalizations’
Netanyahu-apologists have attempted to rationalize Israel’s capitulation by advancing various hypotheses as to the underlying reasons for such seemingly unreasonable conduct.
Typically, these attempts include one of two interrelated contentions (or both): Either that (a) irresistible pressure was exerted to extract the concessions backed up with threats of severe punitive measures if such concessions were not forthcoming; or that (b) Israel had to sacrifice certain strategic and security interests to preserve other, and presumably more vital, ones, such as stopping the Iranian nuclear weapons program.
Both these contentions are highly unpersuasive – but even if they are true they do not justify Netanyahu’s continued incumbency.
They are unpersuasive because if the Obama administration really considered some objective, say, the prevention of a nuclear Iran, an important US interest, would it condition the pursuit of that interest on the release of over 100 Judeocidal monsters? And if Israel refused, would the US forgo the pursuit of its own interests merely to punish its alleged ally, rather than pressure other parties to forgo their unreasonable preconditions? On the other hand, if the administration does not consider the prevention of a nuclear Iran an important US interest, does anyone really believe it would condone an Israeli attack on Iranian facilities, even if Israel did release 100 terrorists?
Dereliction of duty
But even if these claims are true, and intense pressure was in fact exerted and/or a strategic tradeoff had to be made in the situation that Secretary of State John Kerry’s persistence precipitated, they are still irrelevant to the inadmissibility of Netanyahu’s continued incumbency.
For although such situations were not only anticipated, but explicitly predicted, no mechanisms were put in place to contend with them. For decades Israel has left itself to be mauled in the court of public opinion, making it seemingly isolated, and vulnerable to international pressures aimed at wringing perilous concessions.
However, this not an inevitable consequence of some law of nature, but the results of decades of dereliction of duty, of neglect to establish an adequate public diplomacy endeavor that could contend, curtail and counter such pressures.
As the eloquent British columnist Melanie Phillips scolded in a brilliant but scathing interview on Israeli TV: “Israel has made itself defenseless… Israel has vacated the battlefield of ideas …”
Never a truer word was spoken.
In recent years, public support for Israel in the US has been near record levels, outstripping that for the Palestinians by a factor of 4 to 1. Yet this massive advantage has not been mobilized (purposely?) to impact US policy-making toward Israel.
After all, given the level of support Israel enjoys in the US, only incompetence, indolence or worse, can explain why any attempt to extort concessions that clearly imperil its security would not be so politically toxic that no administration would contemplate it.
Over the past five years I have been beseeching the Israeli government – at both senior ministerial and professional levels – to build appropriate mechanisms to deal with precisely such scenarios as have arisen in recent months – but to no avail.
Rationale for resignation
Much has been left unsaid – including broaching questions such as “If not Bibi, who?” and how his resignation can be effected in practice. Nor have I elaborated on the disturbing “catalogue of capitulation” that has characterized his incumbency over the years. However, the constraints of space compel me to forgo.
Suffice it to say that Netanyahu has now embraced a policy he spent decades berating, resisting and mobilizing publics at home and abroad to oppose. He thus has either failed to implement a policy he believes in, or is implementing a policy he does not believe in.
Whichever is true, this is an untenable situation which cannot continue.
Accordingly the only act of true leadership left for Netanyahu is to resign, and to resign without delay.
Martin Sherman (www.martinsherman.net) is the founder and executive director of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies. (www.strategicisrael.org)
@ Ted
There is another way to analyze developments from the perspective of those who do not support transfer.
If one proceeds with the premise that there will be no transfer of the arab population and that the arabs will remain in their densest locations and that an interim agreement will give some areas of C to further arab growth in areas near A areas, probably turn A & B into all A, postpone final borders and Jerusalem. In this case where there are 2 states or 2 entities disputing an area that cannot be resolved by negotiations then the normal way to dispose of the area would be according to a vote of the residents of the area. there would be no pal nation legal claim to c apart from the invocation of self determination of residents in C. Right now there is no pal state or entity in control of any area of the west bank therefore it is viewed by the detractors as a self determination scenario in all of the west bank as one whole. Perhaps BB feels that if a pal state or autonomous entity is established in A and B then the issue later becomes purely a land dispute issue over area C and that the jewish population of C is larger than the arab population of C so that a self determination vote of C only would produce a jewish victory. Or that an agreed dividing up of c would have to be based on residency in various areas and that the unpopulated areas could be negotiated. Both these versions are better than what is being discussed now but the only way they could occur, barring war, is with paradigm shifts over time where Israel would abandon the swap concept and treat it purely as 2 entities disputing land which is under the control of one of the entities only. Both parties would have competing legal claims. In that case any failure to agree would leave area c in Israeli control and could be easily annexed with a small arab population. what prevents Israel from annexing the whole thing is the large arab population. I don’t know what prevents israel from annexing C now except world reaction. Perhaps this reaction would wane as Pal self determination is removed from the issue and time elapses. this would require continued jewish settlement and arab settlement limited to certain areas during the period. I think the giving of some C to A is to limit pal growth to specific areas close to A rather than all over C.
reply 48 to Ted inn moderation
Ted Belman Said:
If you beleive this then you should ask certain questions:
Ted Belman Said:
Question 1: What is Obama buying from PA for the 4 billion.
answer: A commitment to remain a minimum 9 mos at the table engaged in the process without leaking info.
Question 2: why 9 months to April 2014.
Answer: April 2014 is projected deadline for Iran and if anything is to happen it must happen in that period.
Question 3: why did abbas require the release on top of the 4$ billion Answer: he needs the release for the street, like Israel getting Shalit but without paying for it.
Question 4: What is BB getting for the release
Answer: Fill in the blank [possibilities: an interim agreement which preserves the status quo of controlling C; opening of some sort of relations with GCC(Israel 2014 budget shows diplomatic mission in Gulf); Support from GCC for quiet during interim period; weakening of syria, hezbullah and leashing of hamas by GCC sunni mercenariesto lessen blowback from Iran; GCC destabilization of Iran from GCC mercenaries, Kurds, internal azeris, internal baluchis, internal kurds; possible coalition attack on Iran; possible green light and support from the players for an Israeli attack on Iran]
Question5: What must Israel give
Answere: Fill in the blank [prisoner release; possible sit at table for 9 mos ending with interim agreement leaving issues of final borders, jerusalem,most of C to further negotiations; possible attack on Iran; possible attacks on syria in aid of GCC mercenaries;]
Whats the purpose of negotiations and interim agreement? Allow US/GCC to focus on Iran without Israel being a distraction; give kerry and obama points.
I think this is the main reason that everything is happening. but it is israel that will help the us and gcc.
rongrand Said:
did he say which fork to take? 🙂
@ Ted Belman:
Ted, Yogi also said “when you get to the fork in the road, take it”.
It’s that time.
I said a number of times, a majority of Americans support Israel in spite of Ovmoits actions.
Trust me, any action taken by Israel against Iran will be applauded by Americans and our military.
Israel needs a real leader, right wing conservative, non-secular hawk, not a politician.
Ted Belman Said:
Yeah. 🙁
Concur with ted noting however the pervasive uncertainty surrounding pressure exerted by bho regarding iran.
@ yamit82:Thanks for your spirited rebuttal. I choose to fight in Bibi’s defense because the mob was howling to lynch him ignoring what may be in his defense.
You brought more information into the discussion that shows starkly that Bibi’s actions in east Jerusalem don’t match his rhetoric. I hadn’t read that article. And you reminded me of many other ways Bibi has disappointed. Bibi has lied to and mislead his base. No question about it. Yes the signs are there that he has already caved. Perhaps if I had considered all these indicators, I wouldn’t have cut him so much slack in the current debate.
Nevertheless as Yogi Bear says, “It ain’t over ’til its over.” Better to hope I am right then to hope that you can depose him.
@ Steve Smyser:
What good is knowing the seriousness of a threat and then doing nothing to prevent it? And in the end are Netanyahu’s policies any different from Livni’s. She might be misguided but a least she’shonest. You can’t say that about Bibi.
@ SHmuel HaLevi 2:
Dear shmuel,
Agreed 100% on all accounts.
In a (granted) very simplistic way, leading a country, should not be any different than being the head of a family. The BASIC UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES are the same, regardless of size. The well being, security, and interest of the family / country are first and foremost. No need for any big theories here.
The macro situation now of Israel being surrounded and infiltrated by subhuman scum with CLEAR deadly intentions, is not different on a micro level of a head of family in the Wild West that is observing his neighbors and a bunch of scum squatters on his land, planning a frontal assault on his home and family ….
If his home and family are dear to him, and ESPECIALLY if he has a tremendous assortment of weapons available throughout his house, than by God, this hypothetical head of family would just plan and EXECUTE a preemptive attack on these scum from which they may never recover.
For if he CAN do it and chooses NOT to do it – he has effectively betrayed his family / country.
No amount of ultra sophisticated vocabulary can be a substitute for just plain common sense.
I totally agree that picking anyone from a bus station line would be far better choice to lead the nation than a speechster phony.
To say that time is of the essence, would be indeed a very mild understatement.
No matter what the hard evidence is, some folk is conditioned the refuse to relate to reality. Reports are that the coward will release the first 26 bestial entities in 10 days. Lets wait you say? Insanity.
After years of us providing the best analysis so far about who and what the cowardly speechster is and what his lies and plans are, etc, still and in spite of the two best Jewish analysis confirming conclusions, I hear from the apologists the equivalent to positing…”lets allow Netanyahu to continue until a mushroom cloud hovers over Israel”. How about that for evidence?
Two days ago our contacts in Hebron informed me that in spite of court findings confirming months ago Jewish ownership of Bet Hamachpelah, Netanyahu has refused to sign the property to its true Jewish owners. Treacherous coward again.
Netanyahu was, is and will be the Jewish people most terrible enemy, even if the prepared to fail… this time… negotiations “fail”. Typical salami tactics are in place my friends. They “fail” but advance the cue.
Netanyahu lies pathologically in every instance. He is the archetype of a congenital liar. Construction? LIES! Iran? Lies! PRESSURES? Huge bovine do pile!
About who will take his place if his controllers allow the treacherous coward to resign. Asking that is the standard cover up procedure.
There are thousands of decent people eminently qualified to lead our Nation.
NONE of them are now in government.
The unJewish trash must be removed.
Take a pick out of a bus station line. Anyone.
Netanyahu and his ilk must be removed from power and Al Sissi has shown how a true patriot may have to cut it.
The israeli worthless general staff is paid and bought for.
The people must force the scum out.
My response to beniyyar is in moderation.
beniyyar Said:
Don’t mind you stating opinions I don’t agree with and you are entitled to your wrong opinions but you are not entitled to misrepresent the facts.
I would not include you among the right on the Israeli Palis conflict. Don’t know what right of center means, is that like a woman being half pregnant? Some like you may consider America an ally but we have no formal alliance with America and America has always except for a few years treated Israel as a vassalage and Israel reciprocates in kind. Apparently you are one of those who confuse “Spit For Rain”. America didn’t help the Jewish refugees and victims in WWII, abandoned Israel in 1948, and planned to fight Israel on behalf of Egypt in 1956 and 1967. America gives Arabs more aid than Israel and supports immensely brutal Arab regimes, but remains sensitive to Israeli transgressions, arms Israel’s enemies, rejects moving its embassy to Jerusalem, and imposes on Israel the impossible terms of ceasefire. American allies among Arabs boycott Israel, support anti-Israeli terrorists, prepare their armies against Israel, ban Israelis from their countries, sustain monarchies and religious exclusivity—and remain America’s allies. The US Administration’s logic is simple: it pays its enemies more than its friends.
American policies in the Middle East are irrelevant to Israeli needs. America pushed Israel to war with Syria when Syria threatened Jordan; it was only accidentally that Israeli and Syrian armies didn’t clash in Jordan, which the US Administration asked Israel to defend. The American invasion of Iraq was contrary to Israeli interests. No analyst in Israel believed that the American war with Iraq would produce a stable, friendly government; even the once US-propped Iraqi government remained hostile to Israel and still does. America supplies massive quantities of advanced weapons to Israel’s Arab enemies, and does nothing to end the boycott of Israel by America’s Arab allies. The US did not prevent Pakistan from obtaining nuclear weapons, even though Wahhabist Pakistan is the largest existential threat to Israel, likely to supply nuclear weapons to anti-Israeli terrorists. Saudi Arabia, America’s close ally, financed Pakistan’s nuclear program. The US is somewhat opposed to the Iranian nuclear program because it threatens Saudi Arabia. The American defense of Kuwait proved that the US will go to great lengths for the benefit of its oil-rich clients; America never contemplated defending Israel even in dire situations.
Defending the petty sheikhdom of Kuwait with direct military invasion, but pushing Israel to abandon Judea and Jerusalem to the Arabs—that is American Middle East policy since 1948 and hasn’t changed today.
American policy towards Israel is antisemitic! What lands have all administrations since 1967 demanded Israel relinquish to our Arab enemies? Those lands that have Jewish religious and historical meanings including or especially Jerusalem. I don’t think that American policy is not predicated on 2 thousand Years of christian enmity against the Jewish people and Judaism.
rsklaroff Said:
Like this: Britain Willing to Restore Ties with Iran
British Foreign Secretary William Hague says Britain is open to improved relations with Iran on a “step-by-step” basis.
Report: Obama personally approved leaks of Israeli strikes in Syria /Diplomat: Obama approved intelligence leaks on Israeli air strikes in Syria
Martin Sherman has let his rhetoric get out of hand, and his demand for Prime Minister Netanyahu is not just ridiculous, it is naive and childish. We have a stable right of center government which has taken the responsible diplomatic decision to satisfy our American ally, avoid international condemnation, and try to achieve something with the Palestinian enemy. To not do so would be utterly negligent, would not serve the interests of Israel, and would alienate not just our American ally but many Israelis as well. Martin Sherman would do well to think before he rants and raves. In the 1990’s the Israeli Right wing behaved so irresponsibly that they actually did bring down the Shamir government, and to no one’s surprise, in short order we got Rabin, Peres, Beilin, Aloni, Oslo, and the Arafat terrorists and their army sitting in the heart of Israel. Martin Sherman’s demand is ridiculous, unrealistic, and downright dangerous to Israel, he should be ashamed of himself for his suggestion and the rhetoric he used to make it.
A Channel 10 report on Thursday ranked the various Israeli Prime Ministers, since 1991, based on the amount of actual housing construction that began during their respective terms, inside the Israel’s Settlements.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/which-prime-minister-built-the-most-homes-in-the-settlements/2013/01/18/ | The Jewish Press
SURPRISE!
Which PM Built The Most Homes In the Settlements:
Rhetoric aside, real data can answer the question as to who built the most in the Settlements.
Who Built the Most and When?** Rank Prime Minister Party Years Construction
1 Ehud Barak Labor 1999-2001 4,292
2 Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 1996-1999 3,194
3 Shimon Peres Labor 1995-1996 2,443
4 Ariel Sharon* Likud 2001-2006 1,826
5 Ehud Olmert Kadima 2006-2009 1,741
6 Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 2009-2012 1,168
Based on information collected by Peace Now, below are the number of government tenders for new settlement housing that were issued, by year for the past decade. We then correlated that information according to who was Prime Minister at the time.
Who issued the most Housing Construction Tenders? Year Prime Minister Party Tenders:
Subtotal
Ariel Sharon 5293
Ehud Olmert 1523
2009 Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 0
2010 Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 0
2011 Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 1009
2012 Benjamin Netanyahu Likud 660
TOTAL: Benjamin Netanyahu 1669
Ted Belman Said:
You have to believe that otherwise all of your support and past prognostications re: BB falls apart.
What in the past lends support for your position rather than a hope that you are proved to be right at the end. As I recall you supported or let’s say excused BB’s speech at Bar Ilan, and essentially used the same apologetic polemic you now use again.
Bending like a willow or Palm tree might be an apt metaphor if you were confident that BB would just bend and not break. That BB would hold solid to certain stated and accepted principles and oft stated and enunciated Red Lines? Do you have any information source that givers you any reason to believe BB will not match Olmert’s previous offer? That Obama will attack Iran before his term is up or Iran gets their Bombs,(Plural) which ever comes first?
I can’t recall BB ever saying no and not soon after said yes to his previous NO!!! BB does not bend he breaks!!!! He even breaks with only the mildest of pressure not a force 4 or 5 hurricane.
Saying “NO” later will have more dire consequences than saying “NO” today. He and Israel will be blamed for the failure to make peace but whatever he did agree to will be used against him and Israel as foundations for attacking and further d-legitimization of Israel in the present and future. Name one instance where Israel was strengthened by negotiations with the Palis? Salami Salami!!!!
Not accurate and you know it very well. On the ground he has all but handed East Jerusalem to the Plais. It’s a no go zone for Israelis and the PA. Jordanians and GCC are building and buying up property in large quantities. The EU and AID of the State Dept are building in Area C for the Palis as well. There has been for all practical purposes a building freeze since BB assumed office and that with no apparent pressure from Obama. He maintains the restrictions of Temple mount observance and has even made it more difficult for Jews.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is functioning as an agent of U.S. foreign policy and Palestinian expansion.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/shocking-zero-east-jerusalem-housing-starts-in-2013-only-43-in-2012/2013/06/15/ | The Jewish Press
Threats work again on Bibi. Israel has not started to build one single home in “East” Jerusalem for Jews this year after a joint Palestinian Authority-EU threat to sue Israel in international court.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel-bows-to-pa-and-eu-threat-stops-building-in-east-jerusalem/2013/06/10/ | The Jewish Press
Of All past PM’s since 1967 Netanyahu has built the least in Y&S and Jerusalem. first two years of BB’s current term he built Zero new houses.
Israel must agree to give up East Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan before the talks have begun.
Read more at: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/obama-pressing-netanyahu-as-government-split-on-2-state-solution/2013/07/19/ | The Jewish Press
Heard that said by the right many times and each time they were proven wrong and paid dearly for their faith that the enemy will save us from ourselves. Sometimes it’s been true other times not. Stupid to place all your marbles on that belief. If BB is determined, which I believe he is,he will overcome Arab roadblocks and do it.
🙂
Martin Sherman has explained in his articles that Israel has reached the end of one road. All of the previous methods of existence as an Israeli state are now found to be very wanting as the new crisis develops. It is this change in the world that is forcing jews to re-evaluate.
The very first thing that has to be rethought is the issue of Parliamentary Democracy. It is this that is causing the severe spasms in Israel.
Netanyahu is something of an expert in this, but such expertise is likely to be ephemeral. This is the fate of all parliamentarians.
Sooner or later the violent people take to the streets. The bluff of parliamentarians is called.
The violent people in this case are the Arabs and the whole of the Arab Spring, as I posted here and on my blog from the very first moment, is central. That is the beginning of Fascism on the march in our world.
THAT is the central question. If the Parliament method threatens Jews, then what can it be replaced with?
Continue on that road and you invite another Sinai (Begin) or Gaza (Sharon)
Jews trusted both Begin and Sharon up to the very last minute.
Sherman knows Israel is running out of time but sadly he too is not qualified to answer the above.
The new crisis is the world crisis in the capitalist system, economic and political.
Along with that, as is inevitable, is the resurgence of Antisemitism.
The need for oil and the vast profits from that oil have given the forces of Islam much power and they are mobilising that power slowly but surely to isolate Israel and to destroy Israel.
The phone tappings on a vast scale, undreamt of ever before, show that the US is answering the crisis by means of what some have called a New World Order. It is a good term misused by conspiracy theorists.
ALL the empirical evidence has showed that just as Hitler and the Nazis were drawn towards an Alliance with Islam, so big sections of the world ruling class are similarly drawn.
This is one aspect of the war on Israel by the US and by the EU. It is this alliance with Islam that has driven Obama since he was elected 5 years ago, but it also drove all other Presidents from Reagan to Bush and his associate Cheney.
Part of this Order was the overthrow of the Stalinist regimes and the destruction of the Soviet Union.
Jews are again caught in this, and there is no way out for them. This is because Antisemitism has always been a deadly weapon in the hands of ruling classes.
The Papacy, and the present Pope may turn out to be the worst of all because he is from the Jesuits, has been and will be at the centre of new World Orders. It was thus in the Holocaust of the Jews. The Papacy was at the ideological centre of the murder of the Jews
The Holocaust was carried out directly by the Nazis and Muslims, but indirectly it was also carried out by those countries who blocked the Jews from escaping.
The EU boycott is above all a political and propaganda preparation for Holocaust.
The Holocaust was the coming together of many factors, but it would have been impossible without the existence of Fascism.
The Fascist Movement is a movement of our times and is closely related to capitalist crisis. People became Fascists when they were driven to fury by the collapse of their world due to capitalist crisis. The motor for the Holocaust began with the Wall Street Crash.
It was the false leadership of the German workers which opened the door to the Nazis.
The working class in Germany was the only force which was able to stop the Nazis. The workers were prepared to fight but their leaders betrayed the workers. In the end Hitler had a straight run in, in many ways that is the reality.
We have to remember that these ideas are not taught in our capitalist countries.
We must remember that Israel also is a capitalist country. There is a working class in Israel. There is a poor class even below the working class.
The capitalist set up in Israel would militate against organising a mass movement to carry out the Jewish Nationalist or Zionist aims. They will not do it and cannot do it.
To do that requires a special kind of party. It does not exist.
This new factor, this new party will have to be a party of Trotskyism, because what is involved today in every country in the world is the fight against Fascism
This is why Martin Sherman correctly calls for the resignation of Netanyahu but there is no weapon in Martin’s armoury to carry that out politically. Netanyahu is not threatened by Sherman.
Similarly Gil White can show that the ruling class in Israel has edited out the role of the Muslims in the Nazi Holocaust.
But it will remain an individual effort.
Martin Sherman has not provided the answer to the problem. He has only described very accurately the problem.
The inhabitants of Yamit had 3 full years to prepare to defeat Begin on the Sinai Removal issue. They failed totally.
That is the very sharp lesson that must be brought to bear on the situation today. How can Netanyahu be forced out of power? How can the talks be ended? How can Israel have a leadership that will drive out the “spawn” of the Nazis from the Jewish Homeland?
yamit82 Said:
hat tip
In this foggy world of politics, one issue remains clear. In politics words have no value, only acts do. True, no terrorists have been released as yet, but it has been promised, without even a promise being elicited either from the PA or from Kerry /Obama.
On the contrary, the one request made to Kerry, that of Jonathan Pollard’s release, one single prisoner, not 104 terrorists, has been denied. Jonathan did not murder anyone, and is paying for having passed information to a US ally, information which the US was supposed to share with Israel, but denied doing so.
In spite of this blatant betrayal, Netanyahu sees fit to enter negotiations. What kind of an outcome can be expected with this kind of a beginning? Does anyone doubt that this posture, this lack of courage will bring more pressure, and at best some frivolous promises-to-broken as has been the case from time immemorial.
Ted’s comments recall the aphorism “99% of the key-info is conveyed during the last 1% of the communication.”
Here, what is unknown is whether Bibi exacted some sort of tangible commitment from BHO regarding Iran.
Indeed, in response to Bert, I wrote regarding the potential for Bibi’s coalition to be drawn asunder by what transpired during the past week [supra, #5]: “This would be precisely what Obama would want, just as Clinton was able to dislodge Bibi; obviously, despite what we all know about the absurdity of rewarding terrorism, Bibi must be supported [as we, one hopes, await emergence of whatever concession he might have acquired from the POTUS regarding Iran].”
Recognized are expressions of anguish [such as from Ms. Arlene Kushner], but awareness of the motives of each of the players [particularly Obama] necessitates affording trust to Bibi during these obviously-stressful times.
*
Noting the extensive Scandal-Sheet Obama has amassed, he is desperately seeking some sort of a foreign policy “change of subject”…
Review & Outlook: Snowden’s Russian Protectors
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323681904578642082320201650.html?mod=djemITP_h
…akin to “Wag the Dog”…
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt0120885%2F&ei=as_9Ub3WJa_c4AOCnoGgBQ&usg=AFQjCNGAnR9lj-RIX_IkA0AXAhS-n-hDHA&sig2=aSpAE5ImYQ2imXC-THvgXg&bvm=bv.50165853,d.dmg
…particularly after having been so thoroughly embarrassed by Putin].
*
It is anticipated that more will emerge from Bibi [if nothing else, in response to the weeklong outcry] following the weekly Cabinet meeting, to disseminated within a few hours….
I am more with my fellow Canadians, Narvey and Benzimra. Bibi choose to emulate a willow tree rather than an oak tree.
He said the cost of not coming to the table is greater than the cost of coming to the table and chose the latter. Bibi could nave said “no” and took what comes. He said yes knowing that he can still say “no” to an agreement not to his liking at the end of the line. Yes, there is a cost to saying yes to negotiations. He choose to accept that cost whereas many reject him for doing so.
I believe that Obama threatened him by saying that Bibi can come to the table and negotiate the best deal he can, failing which, he, Obama, will allow the UN to dictate the solution. I laid this out in my article How Obama boxed Netanyahu in to an imposed solution. An updated version of this article will be published by JPOST this week.
Bibi stood firm on entering negotiations without preconditions save for the prisoner release. He has in no way agreed to a solution based on ’67 borders plus swaps nor has he agreed to divide Jerusalem though he has agreed that Jerusalem is on the table where it has been since Shamir was forced to agree. One official said that it was far preferable to concede on the prisoner release than to concede on our demands.
Regardless of the threats to Bibi/Israel, no permanent deal has a chance of emerging and everyone including the Whitehouse knows it. I think what will emerge is an agreement for the deployment of the $4 billion fund that has been set up for development of J&S. Such an agreement will require Israel to allow parts of Area C to be developed for the Palestinians. These parts will be close to Area A and will not be missed. On the other hand it will allow us to assert more control over the rest of C and benefit from the infusion of all that money into the area.
If the US helps with Iran, that’s a bonus.
Such an agreement will forestall for many years at least an imposed solution by the UN.
Salomon Benzimra Said:
It is true that a break with the past paradigms is necessary. This usually only comes in revolution or upheaval.
Salomon Benzimra Said:
I am hoping that since there appears to be a GCC push against Irans proxies that the main goal of the peace talks right now is to remove Israel from the equation of the sunnis against iran. If there is a “peace process” where everyone has agreed that they will not leave the table for 9 months and only talk through the americans perhaps this is done to assemble the jihadis, a coalition of arab nations and other constituents(kurds, azeris, baluchis internally) agianst Iran. When this was done in the past israel was always asked to remain out of the picture. The effect of the sunni war on syria lessens blowback on Israel from Irans proxies. Unless something like this is going on then BB is crazy as well as depraved. There is also the possibility that they want Israel to make the attack and in return the GCC has offered Israel to weaken Irans proxies(inc hamas) and possibly something wrt the pals. it is said that Israels budget has a diplomatic office in the gulf in the 2014 budget. the GCC can have a big influence on the pals with its money and perhaps it has decided that iran’s incitement in the gulf nations internally requires a different paradigm.
yamit82 Said:
I agree.
yamit82 Said:
the answer?
yamit82 Said:
perhaps it is the best explanation for the others too. Let’s face it, there appears to have been many scandals.
yamit82 Said:
You mean the King James version?
yamit82 Said:
Beautiful thank you
yamit82 Said:
Alot you know
@ honeybee:
La Belle gives birth, problems with pushy mom.
@ yamit82:
Christian do their best, not away perfect. While in Aspen,Co Itsak Perlman played bluegrass and fly fished.
@ honeybee:
Thanks sweet Bee,
Funny how the christians cleaned up the Psalm by omitting the last 4 verses. In the Jewish tradition Edom (Esau) is christendom today. Still, it was a catchy tune,
http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/16358
yamit82 Said:
Amen: My favorite song: Nw rest with this song in your ear:
http://youtu.be/fGyfxOCYvtM
‘US leaks on alleged Syria strikes could be attempt to harm Israeli interests’
Expert: Leaked ‘New York Times’ story about failed airstrike on Syrian arms cache is not from friendly sources.
The American leaks have raised concerns among some observers in Israel that Syrian President Bashar Assad would be unable to refrain from responding to the attacks due to the embarrassment he would incur.
“The mere fact that such leaks happen often indicates that the Pentagon leadership does not have Israel’s interests at heart,” Prof. Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, told The Jerusalem Post. “It is difficult to assess the motivation of such leaks.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I disagree with the analysis of some experts in this article. If by leaking Israeli attacks against Syria and Assad retaliates it could escalate forcing Israel to attack Assad and thereby do the dirty work Obama, The EU and the GCC are not willing to do themselves.
Perhaps, more than ever, this is the time to keep our head when all are losing theirs and blaming Netanyahu for everything.
Yes, all of what Martin Sherman says is factually true. The optics of the latest decisions and events are devastating. Every thinking person would condemn the release of murderers; the allusion to the “1967 lines;” and the talks with a Judenrein-obsessed PLO leader devoid of any legitimacy.
But has any murderer been released yet? No. Has any final agreement been reached on the 1967 lines? No. Has any Palestinian state of the kind envisaged by Mahmouos Abbas been created outside the feverish imagination of its proponents? No.
Where Sherman goes overboard is when he calls for Netanyahu’s resignation. This call does not derive rationally from his own observations:
a) Nothing proves than Netanyahu has actually “complied with the calamitous condition” of the 1967-lines, other than purported (and unspecified) “strong indications.”
b) The last thing to do in order to avoid making Israel “a laughing stock, unable to adhere to any principle,” is for the PM to resign on the issue of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, after he had been advocating for those negotiations since he was elected.
c) The misguided Israeli policies did not originate with Netanyahu, as Sherman rightly points to “decades of dereliction of duty, of neglect to establish an adequate public policy.” So, why casting all the blame on the latest incumbent?
The real problem of Israel does not lie in its current prime minister. If anything, no Israeli government in recent memory has been as promising as the current one.
The real problem is in the tacit reluctance of any Israeli government to criticize actions taken (or not taken) by previous ones. This kind of “omerta” is not conducive to correct past mistakes and to embark in a radically different path that could stress the inherent rights of the Jewish people to the Land. That is probably what prevents the long overdue adoption of the Levy Report.
The whole issue of a fictitious Palestinian people entitled to self-determination in a land already adjudicated to the Jewish people under international law should have been discarded long ago. No concession will ever be deemed sufficient as long as the phony notion of “occupation of Palestinian territories” remains alive. We should all actively stress the importance of the Legal Rights of Israel to restore sanity to this decades-long quagmire largely fuelled by successive Israeli governments.
But in the meantime, please, let us all give PM Netanyahu the benefit of the doubt in this most critical situation where no one is privy to all the inside information, and let us watch attentively any tangible development in the next few weeks. Hopefully, there will be an early term abortion before the 9 month negotiations come to term.
Netanyahu will have to show his cards — and a map
For all the secrecy surrounding the new peace talks, one thing is clear: This time, everything is on the table, and that includes the PM’s hitherto non-negotiable Jerusalem
The integrity of Jerusalem, ‘Israel’s eternal, undivided capital,’ is no longer non-negotiable
The Obama White House: A Clear & Present Danger To The Jewish State, Convincing & Compelling Evidence…
PM Netanyahu’s ‘Do Or Die Moment’ HAS Arrived: Iran’s Genocidal Program, Too Little Too Late?
NormanF Said:
It’s doable
rsklaroff Said:
Naw!!! illogical.
Try again.
The only way Netanyahu can be brought down is through a palace revolt in the Likud.
I don’t see one happening! They are all afraid of him and they’re more in interested in staying in power than in upholding the Likud’s principles.
If Netanyahu wants to dismember Israel, who is going to stop him? There is no one in sight who is decent and principled enough in Israel to want to save the country from itself.
With all due respect to Martin Sherman, I don’t see Netanyahu being held accountable. Israel has always been more of an elected dictatorship than a democracy.
ArnoldHarris Said:
There is a new book you may enjoy” The Blood of Tyrants” about G Washington.
I dislike critizing Israel, when the USA is so cowardly when it come to the FT Hood shooting etc.
iran
rsklaroff Said:
So speculate as to what might be private to Justify BB’s latest perfidious & seeming capitulation to Obama and kerry?
I have a more detailed response to you in moderation.
rsklaroff Said:
We all know what is public which contains so much spin you could spin dry my laundry.
What is private if anything is what concerns us here. You assume based on your comments that what is private may justify what seems incongruent and irrational to we the unwashed masses. I have in the past been involved in behind the scenes political and diplomatic maneuvers andI can tell you that the public knows more than those on the top are willing to admit and the public has good intuition and or 6th sense re; our low life Politicians.
I maintain that if the public knew the truth they would throw the SOB out on his head or on a rail if they can find one.
If you look at the relationship between Israel and America you will see there is very little Obama can do to hurt Israel. In less than 2 and half year Obama will be a lame duck and campaining will be in full swing for 2016. In a years time the mid term campaign will be at it’s height.
Israel could swing it for the Republicans gaining both houses. That’s deterrence were BB to use it. How many congressmen would want to be cast as anti Israel before the mid term elections?
It’s congress who controls the aid America gives Israel paid each Jan. as a lump sum Obama could refuse veto in the UN push the EU to impose sanctions against Israel. Slow down the supply train of orders placed by Israel but we can cry foul in public to counter.
In three year Obama is gone and the next one if not Hillary might be better? In the meantime I still ask what pressure Obama can apply to Israel to justify or warrant BB’s capitulation and appeasement unless it’s not either capitulation or appeasement but what BB has always wanted and has used Obama as his fig leaf to push his agenda which is essentially what the Palis are demanding.
I maintain America needs Israel more than Israel needs America. Past time Israel learns how to play hardball as opposed to hardcore.
If BB was a new kid on the block, we cut him some slack and the benefit of doubt but BB has a record and is a known quantity for anyone interested enough to check it. Apparently you are not one of those.
My comment articulates a model that accommodates both what is public and what may be private.
@ rsklaroff:
I have a suggestion for you!
Or
If that doesn’t do it try this:
Public notice: “Reward” $1,000,000 for proof of Criminal and ethical Malfeasance by Netanyahu leading to quick indictment, forcing automatic resignation from the office of PM.
If $1,000,000 does not bring a quick response up the ante to $5 or $10 million, whatever it takes. We who have lived in Israel long enough know he is dirty and in fact he may even be Blackmailed by those who have the goods on him, which is an explanation for his behavior since 1996 to the present. That said, I agree with Sherman that he must be out of any public office immediately. Everydy he remains in place puts us all in mortal jeopardy.
Livni will not be BB’s replacement but if BB is implementing the policies of the appeasers and pro Palis EU/American end game what difference does it make who replaces BB? It’s time someone begin telling the truth to the Israeli people and trust us to do the right thing.
Think about it: The Israeli people have elected Every PM except maybe Barak who were for strong nationalist right wing security principles. Rabin received a win based on security and his military reputation and right wing cross overs to get elected (Oslo) Shamir (Madrid) BB (Wye)
Sharon (Gush Katif and withdrawal from Gaza) Olmert was not elected but took over for Sharon. BB again (settlement freeze anti settlement and settler policies, releasing over a thousand terrorists for Shalit) and now capitulating to Kerry and Obama and the EU and agreeing to negotiate everything including borders and Jerusalem. Everything he said he wouldn’t do or agree to.
Begin betrayed his long standing positions re: The land of Israel and Betrayed Israelis who believed him.
Every PM who was voted into office by a majority of Israelis have been right wing and each PM who received their support betrayed them by doing the exact opposite of what they claimed were their intentions and principles. Every one of these PM’s betrayedthe majorities who voted for them. In BB’s first term as PM he was so hated, maligned and discredited that Barak won ( Clinton’s help) with many traditional right wing Likud voters voting for him out of disgust with the Likud and BB.
Peres who did represent the downsizing of the land of Israel and the creation of a Pali State lost every election.
So the Israeli people seem to have a healthy good sense but time after time the leaders they elected changed their positions after reaching office leaving them betrayed, cynical and demoralized if not depressed.
I think most Israelis can handle the truth but then would they vote for the menagerie they call politicians if they were?
This would be precisely what Obama would want, just as Clinton was able to dislodge Bibi; obviously, despite what we all know about the absurdity of rewarding terrorism, Bibi must be supported [as we, one hopes, await emergence of whatever concession he might have acquired from the POTUS regarding Iran].
And exactly where are the members of the coalition that keep Netanyahu in power? Don’t they also see what is happening? Don’t they understand that they have the power to bring down the Netanhahu coalition and call for new elections? This would at least buy time for the Israeli public to understand the new dangers that Netanyahu has created and to elect new leadership.
So what is to be done when a government leader turns to surrendering the rights of the nation whose people put that government in place, and that government leader not only refuses to resign but turns to a counterpart leader of a fading empire to help cement him in place?
In other words, if he will not resign, then how exactly do any of you intend to go about removing him?
In any normal society whose nation intends to survive, elements of the leadership of the people stop at nothing to remove such a leader, when the need is so evident. Jews seem to be too caught up in legalistics to do than whining about the situation.
If so, then shut up and stop wasting the time and attention of all the readers of this blogsite. Because this particular leader of the Jewish state is setting in motion steps that inevitably weaken his country and render it more likely to be doomed by its neighboring peoples, all of whom are more or less taught from birth that the Jews are entitled to no sovereignty whatsoever to any lands wheresoever.
You really have only one choice now. The wrong choice is endless retreat from the borders of your ancient homeland, which ultimately leads to national extinction. The right choice leads to a far stronger State of Israel that will take, annex and populate with a growing Jewish population.
But whatever you do, just stop the endless kvetching which resembles the rage of sleeping sheep, as the saying goes.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Compelling, but deeply disturbing especially when read in conjunction with Caroline Glick’s piece Column One: Bibi and the true believers http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Column-One-Bibi-and-the-true-believers-321815 and noting that Netanyahu’s described routine request of Kerry to have Jonathon Pollard released was rebuffed by Kerry as routinely as past U.S. administrations have done.
Sherman states inter alia:
Like Sherman, I have in past made those same contentions trying to rationalize Netanyahu’s seeming capitulation to the will of Obama and the apparent capitulation of past Israeli PM’s in that same vein.
These rationalized explanations for the seeming Israeli capitulation to American pressure, require one to imagine what those U.S. threats and pressure are because whatever they are remain hidden from public view.
It has reached a point that in order for either of those rationalizations to fly, precise details of those U.S. pressures and threats must be revealed so the public might fairly judge whether Netanyahu really had any choice, but to capitulate.
Absent such factual revelations, the public and particularly the Israeli public can only judge Netanyahu on what is known. That judgment does not augur well for Netanyahu as Sherman reasons.
Sherman however, does not give Netanyahu a pass, even given the possibility that Netanyahu was given no choice by Obama-Kerry, but to capitulate and thus calls for him to resign.
In that regard, Sherman says:
Sherman’s compelling case against Netanyahu’s handling of and seeming capitulation to the Obama-Kerry efforts to get peace talks going again, suffers at the finish line where he calls for Netanyahu’s resignation, even if the aforesaid rationalizations that Netanyahu had no choice, are proven true.
Such statement demands a fact based explanatory analysis for Sherman’s reasons in such instance, are not readily apparent and neither is the answer to the question he poses, “if not BB, who?”.
Finally, Sherman states:
That Israel, not just under Netanyahu’s governance, but past and future governance should have devised strategies to withstand U.S. pressures to resist U.S. threats and pressures, especially when it appears what the U.S. wants is not in Israel’s best interests, is not just desirable, but necessary.
Why Israel’s past and present leadership have not responded to Sherman’s pleas and no doubt others pleas to that end, is an open and deeply troubling question. That question calls for not just an explanation, but an answer that assures Israelis that is precisely what the Israeli government has commenced doing with offers of proof that its commitment in that regard is real and it is happening.
Then you will have a Livni as PM. At least BB knows the truth of the threat, she doesn’t