By Ted Belman
MK Shaul Mofaz of Kadima spoke first. He said it was urgent that Israel make a deal soon but didn’t see a complete deal any time soon. So he promoted his provisional state idea.
The Hon Robert Wexler, Pres, H Daniel Abraham Center for ME Peace supported the Arab Peace Initiative and said the gaps are narrow and we should be able to close them. He essentially supported the Clinton Parameters. Wexler stressed that strategic cooperation between the US and Israel has never been better.
Prof Shlomo Avineri of the Hebrew University showed himself to be very intelligent and wise. Before dealing with this topic, he said no democracy is in sight in Egypt. As for the peace process he said there is little chance of the process restarting let alone concluding. Both peoples are just not ready for the necessary compromises, he said. He preferred to work on conflict management but said the PA won’t sign an interim agreement.
He favoured lifting the blockade on Gaza from everything excepts weapons. The blockade has become a liability for israel. He wants to help Palestinians develope institutions.. He said he was not worried about a unilateral declaration of statehood and subsequent recognition. He praised the arab Initiative but not as a dictat. Israel should say it a great idea, lets negotiate. He said Olmert wasn’t near an agreement and that he wasn’t serious. He offered things on Jerusalem that he knew he couldn’t get support for. He said Oslo failed and that we must switch to another modality.
Israel Harel said that we should focus on national goals rather than the peace process.Instead we should just appoint a committee to work on the peace process. He had no suggestions.
Brig Gen Mike Herzog didn’t believe in conflict management nor did he believe progress could be made in the peace process. The gaps are enormous, he said. That’s why there is no deal.
The Moderator, Raviv Druker, was as far left as you could go. He asked why are we insisting on recognition as a Jewish State. Harel answered him saying that it was necessary for peace to be sustainable that the arabs make idealogical concessions. Right on. Then he asked why the US couldn’t impose a peace. Wexler said there must be negotiations.
The intended Arab panelist, Yasser Abed Rabbo was a no show.
The buga boo the Arabs had from 1947 on was that they didn’t want to share a state with “Jews”. The palestinians were an invention of the Arabs in 1967 for same purpose. They are not going to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, it would destroy their reason for existance. TheyPalestinians) wont sign anything that would guarantee peace;it would destroy their reason for existance. If they do sign anything they will break the agreement. Their reason for existance is to push Jews out of the middle-east.
How you could separate the word “Israel” from the word “Jew” is beyond me. There are non-Jews who live in Israel because the Jews themselves aren’t barbarous in nature. I have no problem with that. The Nation of Isael is however , a homeland for the Jews.
As a long time volunteer in Israel advocacy here in the U.S., when I hear of an Israeli asking why it is important for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, it makes me wonder why the hell I even bother.
..Until I realize that here in the U.S., we also have a lot of twits like that. Mostly on college campuses. The little brothers and sisters of the student left who now run most of the universities today, who have most of the top jobs in the media. There are also a goodly number of politicians from this crowd.
It is bad here; in Europe it is even wore.
What a mess we are, because of those bastards.
Liberal left intellectuals: the scourge of every free society. To hell with the lot of them.
The peace process is a farce. Why should Israel sign an agreement with anybody to build a terrorist state on their border?
I don’t endorse the peace process;I won’t indorse the murder of inocent Jews in Israel which would follow the establishment of a separate Palestinian state. Period
George Orwell once said: “You must be an intellectual. Only an intellectual could say something so stupid”. All of the speakers Ted writes about must be intellectuals, since they all fall into the stupid category. Mofaz is dreaming if he thinks that signing a deal is urgent; Jews have a state, the local Arabs don’t and if it is not urgent for them it is not urgent for Israel. Wexler seemed to be raving about the Arab Peace Initiative Mark I that the Saudis announced after 9/11,when in fact Mark II, the one altered in Syria calling for Israeli capitulation, is the one on the table. If Avineri is not worried by a unilateral decleration of a state and the by-passing of negotiations called for by 242, he shjould not be worried by jumping in front of a bus; any concern for a hostile East Hamastan between Israel and Jordan? And Druker questioning why Israel should be recognised as a Jewish state! If Israel is not a state for the Jewish people, what is the justification for it being a state at all? Equally to the point, if it is not important for Jews to have a state, why is the world community breaking its neck to give one to the “Palestians”, a newly minted group of indigenous revolutionary democrats in the best progressive mould. What on earth were all the intellectuals drinking in Herzliya?
Anything what Wexler participates in should be deemed a sabotage action and treason of Israel and all participants should be criminally prosecuted.
Ex-Chief of Staff Mofaz Urges US to Halt Military Aid to Egypt
see video from conference
http://wejew.com/media/10550/Mofaz_-_US_Should_Stop_Aid_to_Egypt/
The Obama administration should “immediately” halt all military aid to Egypt and neighboring countries, former IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz told the Herzliya Conference Wednesday morning.
He also termed American policy in the Middle East “weaker than ever” and that it is seen as increasingly irrelevant. “It is too early to estimate the extent of damage that [American] policies have caused in the face of the crisis in Egypt,” he added. Read more