Join the discussion: Obama has pushed matters to a head with Israel. How should Israel respond and what is the best strategy for Israel’s supporters now to adopt?
Today, I am inviting comments from readers. This is a huge week for everyone interested in the Israel-Palestine conflict. It’s the AIPAC conference in Washington. It appears that Netanyahu and Obama will meet, as will dozens of their officials. Everyone is watching.
What do you think Israel should do? Please feel free to comment on everything from handling the current spat over settlements to what Israel could or should concede (if anything) in negotiations. Should Israel even agree to negotiations at all? Make suggestions on both tactics and strategy.
Here are some guidelines for comments:
1) Keep your thoughts (very) brief. Make one good point rather than five less powerful ones.
2) Always be polite, even when you disagree or feel strongly. And never be personal.
3) Be constructive. We all know the challenges and the dangers. Try and suggest something workable.
4) Think out of the box.
Thank you. I look forward to your thoughts in the comments below.
Tags: Israel
March 21st, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Melanie Phillips believes she has the answer
A revolutionary proposal
http://tinyurl.com/ylbgzrd
Why truth beats diplomacy
http://tinyurl.com/yj9sehj
March 21st, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Israel should pursue a foreign policy more independent of the US, where it suits their national interest, expand their range of friends. Israeli politicians with good foreign language skills need to get on the air more often. They must behave with more self-respect. Netanyahu is actually a good model.
Liberal-Left friends of Israel must speak up much more often. They have more influence on the Obami and on left-oriented media. But they need to say clear, affirmative things instead of apologizing or explaining. They must chastise incidents and individuals for disrespect to Israel.
March 21st, 2010 at 1:43 pm
I agree with Melanie
March 21st, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Netenyahu should offer concessions in exchange for (i) US disinvestment in Iran (to include blocking of multinationals like Shell and Total) and (ii) relocation of the US embassy from TelAviv to Jerusalem.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:03 pm
I think the conversation is moot, because Bibi is caving in. What he should have done is stood firm and shown resolve and Israeli sovereignty against aggressive American pressure. I am disgusted with the USA at the moment, but I expect it from the Obama administration that is the most anti-Israel administration in American history. What I was not prepared for was Israeli capitulation, which I see is a far more worrisome and serious problem that eclipses everything America has done.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:43 pm
First things first. Israel must unilaterally announce a plan to wind down all US aid while maintaining current agreements to purchase parts, refurbishment and maintenance. Parallel to this, Israel should announce it’s ending the ’special relationship’ and will lower diplomatic relations with the US to put them on par with other countries which are neither allies nor enemies. Third, put the US on notice that there there is NO American embassy in Tel-Aviv. Either it’s in Jerusalem or it’s not an embassy, perhaps a trade mission or something like that. In terms of immediate actions, Clinton must be uninvited to the upcoming AIPAC conference. She can send an underling perhaps but high level meeting are on ice for the immediate future.
March 21st, 2010 at 6:57 pm
It would be nice if Israel could tell the US, UN, EU and the other alphabet soup members that it is done with offering any concessions at all, that all offers are now off the table and we’re back at square one; and demanding first to hear what the Arabs are offering.
However I know that in truth this is a non-starter. Fantasising is nice though.
A more practical solution, though again I’m not sure if it is fantasy or not, would be for Israel to unilaterally and totally disengage from Gaza, officially hadning it back to Egypt. The fact that Egypt does not want it and enver did want it when it held it is irrelevant. Israel officially captured Gaza from Egypt and now she should hand it back. The border should be completely sealed with a border fence, and the territory should be treated as enemy territory, similar to Lebanon and Syria. Just like no “humanitarian” aid gets through to those 2 countries, so should none go through to Gaza. Let the Egyptians and the UN worry about them. Any missile or other attacks should be treated as attacks from Egyptian soil, similar to Hizballah attacks being regarded as attacks from Lebanon.
The West Bank Palestinians could then be granted limited autonomy under Israeli rule or offered some sort of incentive to leave. On their own the W. Bank Arabs are not numerous enough to overwhelm Israel numerically.
March 21st, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Unfortunately, I don’t think Israel has any good options, at least in the short term. Here’s what I consider a possible course of operation: First, lower the profile of activities in Jerusalem and the West bank, and try to ride through the current quarrel with the US. Additionally, Israel should insist on direct negotiations, and offer a peace plan of its own, holding on to its “red lines” even if it is deemed unacceptable by the Palestinians. Finally, Israel should quietly seek to strengthen relations with other powers as Russia and China.
March 21st, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have to be direct. Forget ‘proximity talks’. They should also exclude outside parties. All four members of the ‘Quartet’, ie. the UN, the EU, Russia and the US are biased in the Palestinians’ favour, so best done without them. There should be a readiness for land swaps on both sides of the Green Line, so that as many Jews fall within Israeli territory and as many Moslem Arabs fall within Palestinian territory as possible, but allowing for reasonable Palestinian contiguity and Israeli strategic depth. Small-scale bi-directional population transfers should even be contemplated to facilitate this. Jewish settlers in the West Bank can be given the choice of evacuating or living under Palestinian sovereignty, god help them. Arab neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem should be part of the Palestinian state. If you’ve ever visited them, they are a different country. The most awkward problem is the Old City. I suggest giving the Kingdom of Jordan special interim sovereignty over the Moslem Quarter and the upper Temple Mount. Following ten years of peaceful co-existence, there can be a transfer to Palestinian sovereignty, subject to the agreement of all three parties. The Jewish, ‘Christian’ and Armenian Quarters will be under Israeli sovereignty. The agreed solution will have to be phased according to a timetable.
Israel won the three major wars in 1948, 1967 and 1973, but the Arabs have already won the demographic war. Israel has no choice but to agree to a two-state solution. Let the Palestinians cope with the problem of their exploding population and if the EU wants to feed them indefinitely let them do so. Shmocks.
March 21st, 2010 at 9:24 pm
I do think that Obama is just extremely ignorant.
I do not think think that he is bigoted (intransigent).
He has never heard the factual history of the situation. Never.
He is as just as misinformed about the facts of the current situation by the sensatioinalistic, ignorant, mildly bigoted, news media in the United States and the Jewish-StockHolm-Syndrome-D-iven-mildly-anti-Israeli entertainment media in the United States as the majority of the people in the United States are.
This might be surprising to, and difficult for, people to believe, but extremely few people in the United States are aware of the factual history of, and the facts of the current reality of the situation, other than, very recently, people who support Israel according to a religious Christian ideology that they hold and who are therefore not hostile to Israel, and who, as a result have been open to learning about, and have, as a result, become aware of, the factual history and the facts about the current reality of the situation.
The news media in the United States does not intensely and obsessively and obscenely vilify Israel, but it does not present the facts of the situation and the narrative that it presents vilifies Israel in a much less intense and in a less obscene way.
Jewish people do not tell anybody about their situation of being Jewish in the world and they do not tell anybody the true facts that they know about the situation that involves Israel. Jewish people, as a coping mechanism, out of fear of feeling disliked, in being Jewish, in feeling misperceived and blamed and vulnerable to being misunderstood and hated, obfuscate the true facts of there existing aggressors against Jewish people, and Jewish people try to appease and show, to themselves, and to others, how “good” they (themselves, Jewish people) are, and Jewish people, as psychological coping mechanism believe lies that the actions of Jewish people can cause the aggressors against Jewish people to stop, and that it is Jewish people’s fault.
Obama just needs to hear the truth.
March 21st, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Correction:
“…in a much less intense and in a less obscene way.”
…in a much less obsessive way, and in a much less intense way, and in a much less obscene way, than the media of Europe does.
March 22nd, 2010 at 12:13 am
1. Israel must make clear that Jerusalem is non-negotiable, a red line that will not be crossed. The Muslims wouldn’t negotiate Mecca, and the Jews shouldn’t negotiate Jerusalem.
2. Any other concessions need to be tied to US action (not speeches or another in the endless round of sanctions) against the Iranian nuclear threat.
3. Any concessions have to be declared simultaneously with Palestinian concessions - dropping the so-called “right of return”, acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state, an end to incitement on Palestinian broadcast media and in schools.
It would never happen of course.
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:38 am
I also agree with Melanie.
Israel should get smart about its PR. So few know the facts behind the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and this is what fuels some of the fire. I am forever astounded at the utter rubbish too many people regurgitate as ‘fact’.
Admittedly, finding airtime on the BBC would be near-on impossible, although perhaps there should be public pressure on this institution to release the Balen report.
Journalist, Khaled Abu Toameh toured universities in USA. My understanding is that the talks he gave were along the lines of his people being better off under a non-corrupt, more democratic government. Some listened - some had such ingrained preconceptions that they wouldn’t listen and threw the usual ‘Zionist stooge’ insult at him, but perhaps Khaled - as a Palestinian - could be persuaded into undertaking such a tour here - and perhaps not just in universities. He’ll likely find the same scenario as he encountered in the USA, but if even ten people walk out better informed, then perhaps there’s ten more to counter the mis-information.
Khaled isn’t the only choice - there are others in USA who undertake such talks to present Israel’s case. We have little like this here to the best of my knowledge.
Could Israel start up a radio station? A dedicated TV channel like Al-Jazeera, or, dare I say it, even Press TV?
If a less biased information stream was available perhaps people might also start asking quite what lies behind the bias of our current reporting. After all - if the media can show such bias in the case of Israel, what other information are we getting that is not on the mark?
March 22nd, 2010 at 6:57 am
Netanyahu should do what Likud and Labor have always done - play nice, lay low, verbally agree with the U.S., make little concessions, but still build an develop, which will lead to the Palestinians thinking Israel is weak and on the run, which will cause them to ratchet up their demands to completely unacceptable levels that no one can meet, thus causing yet again another collapse in the so called “peace process” and back to square one. When Iran gets nukes this will all change because the U.S. will be way too busy trying to mollify and protect our Persian Gulf friends against Iranian expansion in the Persian/Arabian Gulf. Not even the Arabs will care about Palestinians and Jews when they are being threatened by Iranian nukes. heh
March 22nd, 2010 at 7:33 am
First the issue of the definition of a refugee needs to be clarified. It is preposterous that UNRWA can have its own definition for the Palestinian refugees.
The right of return is a noble cause to fight for, but the right of return to another country is simply absurd.
Negotiations must have these preconditions. Otherwise they take place for their own sake.
Unfortunately we have come too far since Oslo. I think we need to return to the agreement signed there. Israel has steadily advanced on her commitments while the Pals have done nothing except more of the same.
Bibi needs to make it clear that a framework for a two state solution was layed out, and until Abbas has control of all the Palestinian administered areas and has ‘caught up’ to Israel re. the negotiated concessions Arafat agreed to make in parallel to Israeli ones, there is nothing to talk about.
There is no point in negotiating with someone who doesn’t even accept that you exist.
I like Annes’ ideas but unfortunately that is a sure path to war with Egypt. Otherwise I would suggest the same for the West Bank and Jordan.
To be honest, after their behavior since 2000 I have nothing but contempt for Palestinian, Arab and European governments. I do not belive that the Palestinians ‘deserve’ a country of their own. I am simply tired of war and the constant threat of it.
I have much more to say ( all of it badly spelt and punctuated), but I will take Robin’s suggestion onboard and not be too longwinded.
March 22nd, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Robin, here’s my suggestion.
Israel needs to change the way ordinary people in the West perceive it, particularly in relation to the Muslim world. The BBC et al have done such a good job of distorting the nature of the conflict in the Middle East that many who are not actively hostile to Israel are tired of hearing about it. They end up taking the position “a plague on both your houses”.
A committee of the most savvy publicists and public relations experts should be formed to help project an image of Israel as the most extraordinary and unique, modern, dynamic, sexy country anywhere in the world. When people think about Israel they should primarily associate it with the stunning inventions and technological marvels it has produced in all areas of scientific endeavour and on which we are vitally dependent every day.
The sub-text of this campaign would be the struggle to survive and bring these benefits to all mankind in a neighbourhood mired in backwardness and brutality. (No need for negative campaigning here: people see this brutality every day.) And the sub-text of THAT would be: “You choose who you’re going to identify with, which side your bread is buttered, and which side you’re going to support.”
Few non-Jews are interested in or care about the Jews’ two thousand year struggle for a secure homeland. But a miniature camera you can swallow that might save your life?
When people here are excited by and believe they have a stake in the future of this (in more ways than one) “miracle in the desert”, they will identify with Israel in its war of survival. And from there it’s only a short hop to the Holy Grail of the counter-jihad: the realization that it’s OUR war of survival too.
In the West, rational self-interest, when properly focussed, ultimately wins over ideology.
March 22nd, 2010 at 1:57 pm
+1 for giving the truth a try. Netanyahu and Israeli public affairs/relations must diseminate the facts about this conflict relentlessly (status of Jerusalem, status of refugees, Palestinian incitement, reasons why US soldiers are in danger and so on).
Another great idea to make people listen to the facts, but maybe one that cannot be realized by the end of this week: stop dependency on oil by providing revolutionary alternative energy technology.
March 22nd, 2010 at 7:22 pm
I wouldn’t know where to start with proffering advice, but I do hope that the Israeli powers that be have made it perfectly clear to the Arab world that if the Jews find themselves again on the brink of destruction, that they will take Mecca with them, regardless of who is perceived to be at blame. As long as that fundamental is understood, then there may be a chance to resolve this. There would be no need to make such a ‘bottom line’ public…certainly best not to in the current climate.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:17 pm
A theme that runs through Obama’s foreign policy, whether it’s Israel, the UK or eastern European NATO allies, is ‘to mistreat one’s allies and appease and placate one’s enemies’. Personally I believe this attitude stems ultimately from his fairly extreme left-wing politics.
What can Israel and its supporters do? Apart from fervently hoping that Obama will turn out to be a one-term disaster, I think a combination of two strands identified by earlier posters could begin to have an effect.
Israel should stop playing diplomatic nice-guy. Stop compromising with Arabs (or Western lefties) whose hate won’t permit them to even recognise Israel’s right to exist. Israel should start to proudly and vocally convey the truth, namely that in the Middle East, Israel is truly a beacon of freedom, rule of law, tolerance, pluralism and humanism - and its enemy, our enemy, is the Arab/Muslim 7th century tribal mindset which denies fundamental rights to women, religious, political, sexual and other minorities - and in its most extreme (or consistent?) form executes gays, treats women like chattel and glorifies religious murder. The issue is one of morality, and for far too long we have let Israel’s enemies mistakenly assume the moral high ground.
Apart from the substance of what needs to be said, there’s a question of how this message is conveyed. Israel is quite frankly crap when it comes to putting its point across (although one beautiful exception was Netanyahu’s UN speech last autumn when he forcefully asked the world ‘Have you no shame?’ for listening to Ahmadinejad’s rants).
March 23rd, 2010 at 1:23 am
Israel’s governemnt should be doing what they are doing. Apologise for the timing and pointing out Netanyahu specifically excluded Jerusalem from the moratorium and was complimented by Hilary Clinton at the time for the amount they were willing to concede.
The Israeli people should be demonstrating outside the American Embassy and the American Consulate 24/7 that Abbas talking to Mitchell is not nearly a quid-pro-quo for preemptively conceding Jewish rights to Jerusalem.
March 23rd, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Neither the US nor Israel has a realistic alternative to each other as long term friends. Obama is hopefully a one term president like Carter and just as useless.
Meanwhile, Israel should play a quiet, waiting game and keep in touch with its old and trusted friends within the US that it has worked with in the past. Those friends will still be there when Obama is not.
March 23rd, 2010 at 7:18 pm
Point 2.
A radio or tv station is a great idea. The MSM is largely run by the left or it’s bankrolled by the Arab states, so Israel is unlikely to get any sort of even handed treatment.
Only if Israel has a way of getting out its own message can it even begin to redress the lies and slander that that we read, see and hear, each and every day in the UK, US and right across Europe.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Israel desperately needs to reframe the agenda. We need to hear clear and unequivocal statements about Jewish rights,Jewish refugees (I would love to see someone make a blockbuster of Eli Amir’s The Dove Flyer), Arab incitement, fundamentalism and rejectionism. Want to talk about apartheid? Turn the spotlight on gender apartheid in the Arab world. Occupied territories? Talk about the disputed province of Alexandretta, which Syria ceded to Turkey without a fuss. Human rights? Talk about slavery in Saudi Arabia. Brutality? Talk about the thousands of political prisoners tortured and executed in Arab jails. Ethnic cleansing? The expulsion of 99 percent of the Jews, severely depleted Assyrians, Chaldeans, oppressed Bahais, Copts and Berbers.
March 24th, 2010 at 10:35 am
It’s going to be hard for people here to accept this but I think that the first thing Israel needs to do is stop expanding settlements. Since the established ‘wisdom’ has Israel as the prime aggressor it needs to be puritanical and beyond reproach for a while to show the World who the real aggressors are. Like it or not, justified or not, the settlement building does Israel no favours whatsoever and is now even turning it’s so-called friends against it.
Can anyone explain why the BBC is describing the area of East Jerusalem to be developed as a predominantly ‘Palestinian’ area (whatever ‘Palestinian’ is supposed to mean) while Melanie Phillips describes it as “a Jewish area which is hemmed in between other Jewish areas”. Someone has got this VERY wrong.
March 24th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Steve: ‘Israel as the prime aggressor it needs to be puritanical and beyond reproach for a while to show the World who the real aggressors are.’ Absolutely not. Jews do not have to be better than anyone else, they need to be accepted as the same as everyone else. Israel is not the prime aggressor. It needs to make clear to the world that the settlements will go only when the Palestinian leadership has shown willing to negotiate, recognise Israel’s existence and guarantee security. As for east Jerusalem, guess what. The BBC, great news and fact gathering organisation that it is, has got it wrong. Again.
March 25th, 2010 at 2:48 am
Nicole,
“Jews do not have to be better than anyone else” Where do you get that from? Avoiding doing something, quite deliberately, that looks to the vast majority of outsiders to be unnecessarily provocative falls a very long way below anything that might fall within that description.
Do you think Iran would be behaving “better than anyone else” if it ceased encouraging terrorism? Do you think Palestinian chiildren would be behaving “better than anyone else” if they stopped throwing stones?
Perhaps it is just the case that refraining from provocative actions is the “normal behaviour” that you would expect of a mature state?
March 25th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Steve: Israel is judged by far harsher standards than any other country in the world, as you might be able to gather from the absurd amount of media coverage it receives. It does not need to be ‘beyond reproach’, it needs to defend its own existence and its people. If you think Israel sets out to be deliberately provocative, you are not understanding what is going on. That is hardly surprising, in view of the misinformation spread by the BBC et al and Israel’s appalling neglect of its own PR. Still, you’ve made a start by reading the estimable Robin Shepherd.
March 25th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Nicole,
You make my point for me. It is because Israel finds itself in the unique situation where history has been distorted and its every action is amplified and exaggerated, that the building of settlements in ‘disputed’ land (which I and many like me who are otherwise staunch defenders of Israel cannot offer any credible defence for) merely plays into the hands of its detractors and does nothing but add fuel to the demonization. How do you think this contributes to the defence of its own people and existence? The short answer is that it doesn’t. It merely allows for cheap shots to be made against it which has the exact opposite affect.
I am not Jewish and not Israeli. The reason I support Israel is that it seems obvious to me that it is a democratic country of great promise which shares my values and is worthy of support. Up to a point it’s occasional excesses can be ‘forgiven’ on the basis that this is a young country brutalized by a 60 year war of survival. The provocative expansion of settlements merely adds doubt to the view that it is a generally moral and responsible democracy and to many people makes it look as bad as, or worse that it’s neighbours.
March 25th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Israel should declare that when Iran and Syria are no longer a threat, it will consider further autonomy for the Palestinians.
March 25th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Israel should offer free trips to more business and political leaders to see Israel, both from America and South America. Maybe even Europe.
March 25th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Israel should solicit positive documentaries and feature films that show off the country.
March 25th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Israel should wait quietly for a change in administrations in America.
Israel should wait quietly for a change of views in Europe, which is beginning to experience the oppression that Islam will bring them.
March 25th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Israel should increase its local production of arms, since the flow from America will soon dry up. Let’s face it. The cancellation of the F-22 raptor was designed to keep it out of Israel’s hands.
Israel may want to reconsider producing the Lavie - Israel’s home grown fighter.
March 25th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Israel should consider funding permanent traveling exhibitions of its antiquities. First venue - Washington.
Israel should consider funding permanent traveling exhibitions of its industrial contributions.
Both these ideas would eventually pay for themselves. Viewing the exhibits should be inexpensive, but never free.