[Dr. Aaron Lerner – IMRA:
On the one hand, Minister Yair Lapid’s remarks against a settlement freeze and the division of Jerusalem should serve to dash hopes among those who saw him as the point man for pushing through such policies.On the other hand, Mr. Lapid takes the profoundly dangerous position supporting the immediate creation of an interim Palestinian state. If the idea is to propose something with 100% certainty the other side will reject it then at least there is a logic to it. But if that is not the case, providing for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state anywhere in our bedroom is incredibly dangerous.]
Fresh Israeli Face Plays Down Dimming of Political Star
By JODI RUDOREN The New York Times Published: May 19, 2013
[..]
“I’m going to be bashed now, and be the beneficiary of this within, I don’t know, a year or a year and a half,” Mr. Lapid, 49, said in his first interview with an international news organization since his unexpected vault into global headlines. He still hopes to succeed Mr. Netanyahu, but said, I’m in no hurry.”
Asked about the transition to politics, he called it “painful,” joking, “I used to have so many opinions before I learned the facts.”
In an hourlong conversation, Mr. Lapid offered no criticism of Mr. Netanyahu. He said he talks or exchanges text messages almost daily with Naftali Bennett, the leader of the nationalist Jewish Home Party, with whom he formed an alliance to block the ultra-Orthodox from joining Israel’s governing coalition. He declined to discuss security issues like Iran.
An avowed centrist, Mr. Lapid nevertheless took a hard line on policy toward the Palestinians, the issue that has defined Israeli politics for decades but that was overshadowed by domestic concerns in the recent campaign. He said that Israel should not change its policy on Israeli settlements in the West Bank in order to revive the stalemated peace process, and that Jerusalem should not serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state — an essential part of Palestinian plans.
Mr. Lapid acknowledged that tens of thousands of Jews would someday be uprooted from what he described as “remote settlements” in the West Bank, something he called “heartbreaking.” But he said that problem should be set aside for now, advocating the immediate creation of an interim Palestinian state in parts of the West Bank where no Jews live, with final borders drawn in perhaps three, four or five years. Palestinian leaders have roundly rejected temporary borders.
While he described the two-state solution as “crucial” to preserving Israel
as a Jewish nation, he offered no hints of Israeli concessions that could
break the stalemate in the peace process. Instead, he repeatedly said he
hoped that Secretary of State John Kerry, who is scheduled to arrive here
next week for his fourth visit in two months, would “jump-start” it.
And he expressed extreme skepticism about the likelihood of reaching a deal
with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, saying, “He’s one
of the founding fathers of the victimizing concept of the Palestinians.”
He also questioned whether Palestinians truly wanted a state.
“Israelis want peace and security and Palestinians want peace and justice —
these are two very different things, and this is the real gap we have to
close,” he said. “More and more people are saying to themselves and to
others, this is not going to happen, all we have to do is some maintenance
and we’ll see. Some people think ‘we’ll see’ is ‘God will help us,’ which is
not a very tangible idea to me. Others say, ‘Some problems are not to be
solved,’ which is a very sad idea.
“I am saying what we need to do is something.”
Yet while Mr. Lapid vowed “to be proactive about this and do everything in
my power to contribute to the discourse,” he said he has not spoken with Mr.
Kerry since sitting with him at a state dinner during President Obama’s
visit to Jerusalem in March. Nor has he met with any Palestinians since
taking office.
He said he had found Mr. Netanyahu “more willing” and “more prepared than people tend to think” to make peace with the Palestinians. Indeed, there was little daylight between the two men’s positions. Mr. Lapid said he would not stop the so-called “natural expansion” of settlements in the West Bank, nor curtail the financial incentives offered Israelis to move there. He said the large swaths of land known as East Jerusalem that Israel captured from
Jordan in the 1967 war and later annexed must stay Israeli because “we didn’t
come here for nothing.”
“Jerusalem is not a place, Jerusalem is an idea,” he said. “Jerusalem is the
capital of the Israeli state.”
Little known outside Israel a few months ago, Mr. Lapid in April ousted Mr.
Netanyahu from Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential
people, and last week topped the Jerusalem Post’s ranking of influential
Jews. (Mr. Netanyahu landed at No. 3.) But he has become the target of angry
Facebook campaigns and editorial cartoons, and is battered daily by
columnists across the spectrum.
“In no time at all, he has lost his major assets: the credibility and trust
of the Israeli voter,” Yossi Verter, the political writer for the
left-leaning daily Haaretz, wrote Friday. In Yediot Aharonot, Nahum Barnea
said, “The truth is that Lapid has taken too much upon himself.” And in the
right-leaning Jerusalem Post, Gil Hoffman observed, “The boxer who idolizes
Muhammad Ali has now become a political punching bag.”
One of the things that led some to turn on Mr. Lapid was the revelation that
he met in April with Sheldon Adelson, the ultraconservative financier who
backs Mr. Netanyahu and owns the Israel Hayom newspaper that loyally
supports him. Mr. Lapid said Thursday that Mr. Adelson requested the meeting
to ensure that the government would continue its matching grant of about $40
million to Birthright, a program that brings young Jews to Israel, and that
“there was nothing political about it.”
Throughout the interview, Mr. Lapid was charming, confident — and
controlling. Pressed on a certain point, he warned, “I’m so good at not
answering questions I don’t want to answer that we could go all night.” And
he refused to be photographed for this article at the cafe, insisting that
the photographer try Friday, when Mr. Lapid would don a jacket to meet with
the German foreign minister.
He was sanguine about his situation, rejecting the conventional wisdom that
he has made a series of missteps.
“Making hard choices always seems to be mistakes, but these are not
mistakes,” he said. “If you want to change a country, you’re going to be
bumped every now and then.”
Bernard Ross Said:
Do not overreach? Come to resignation? Time is black, irrational and merciless? Do not set yourself the task of accomplishing something in time, (which is only the dominion of suffering). On every continent, in every society, the same advice that wise men as diverse as Heraclitus, Lao-Tsu and Siddhartha would one day give their followers: do not journey but sit; compose yourself by the river of life, meditate on its ceaseless and meaningless flow. That is not the Jewish way since the time of Abraham.
I sometimes wonder if the Jews are not G-d’s experimental mice. That said, I would consider “The Bradbury Butterfly Effect” before making Policy decisions. Policies are always wrong and doomed to failure and they all have unforeseen negative future consequences, therefore the best policy is to do nothing. https://www.israpundit.org/archives/47982/comment-page-1#comment-185420
spot the obvious error. I would like to refer the young, and rather immature, Mr. Lapid to a zen master to study the Zen art of “not doing”.
@ Honey Bee:
Yamit was referring to my “speech defect” – my Scottish accent. What he didn’t tell you was that I was once a member of the only Jewish bagpipe band in the world. Unfortunately, at the time I was FAR to young to drink, so I didn’t have the good fortune of participating in the adventure described in that song.
@ Honey Bee:
Dallas is under the gun again,tomorrow.
@ yamit82:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqb_qr25wT4 I expect some gratitude for y efforts:
@ yamit82:
Well LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Honey Bee Said:
He’s been known to wear skirts from time to time, don’t know bout underwear?
@ Keelie:
I doos my best, but am always mis-under estimate!!!!!!! Are you a female? You said you are a Canadian.
CuriousAmerican Said:
Yes he did. He put a figure of $200 billion on it and I think he included the Arabs in Gaza. I pointed out that most estimates for paying the Jews to leave exceed $100 billion. The latter course would give us great turmoil and great inflation in the housing market. The former would buy us J&S free of Arabs. No contest.
Isn’t the right of the government to partition the country ever questioned?
Realistically speaking, is there anything – anything at all – that will stop them from implementing partition, unilateral or not.
Ted Belman Said:
Who is his authority? I don’t buy it, not because BB does not want it but because I don’t believe he can pull it off. Poll on Fri had his personal popularity down to 21% with only 33% giving him a passing grade in leadership. With the new austerity budget his numbers can only go lower. His and his Beast (Sarah) are the laughing stock in the country with a vast majority agreeing with the media criticism and those that are mocking him.
Few mention that Lapid has already lost between 5-10% of his base support since assuming the post as Minister of finance and it will get worse for him. Few mention that around 20% of his base support are right wingers who at the last moment switched from Bennett to Lapid. They I believe do not favor either a 2 state solution or even Lapid’s halfway compromises. Not sure how many Likud/Betaynu MK’s will support such a move?
It sounds like disinformation probably geared to get acceptance for a major agreement (sellout) between BB, Abu Mazen and Obama by putting out the threat of unilateral withdrawal.
Did he talk about paying the Arabs to leave … the other part of his thesis?
I attended a lecture by Martin Sherman tonight in which he made the case for annexing J&S. He was brilliant. The case is unassailable.
I spoke with him after and he said he has it on good authority that this government is on the verge of unilaterally withdrawing if they don’t get an interim agreement.
Somewhat off-topic (if that’s possible): Debka reports that 50 Hezbollah fighters were killed in the latest “skirmish” in Syria. I’m sure the MSM will already be busy photographing some of the dead babies being held up by Hezbollah supporters, as always. This of course will be a prelude to protest marches, including speeches by disgusted, hyper-moralistic celebrities…
Oh – wait a minute…
@ Honey Bee:
LOL!!! Brilliant! Especially answer #2!
Ray Saperstein Said:
1. HOPE AND CHANGE
2. CHANGE AND HOPE
I would really appreciate it if somebody could answer these 2 questions:
1. Let’s suppose that Netanyahu and Abbas somehow reached an agreement. How will Hamas be forced to accept it also?
2. What is to prevent some future Palestinian government from abrogating any agreement with Israel by stating that Abbas did not have the authority to sign an agreement with Israel, since his term of office had expired long before the signing of that agreement?
Shy Guy Said:
Its a national tragedy that Israel’s leaders have sat for decades twiddling their thumbs while doing nothing to address the problem of Jew-hating Arabs in the country. They all talk of removing Jews from their homes for the sake of a non-existent peace agreement. No – not one of them really gets it.
I pray for a sinkhole to open up under the entire Knesset building during a full attendance. Yes, we will lose a few good people (less than a handful).
It’s not a farce. It’s a national tragedy.