by Oui
Thu Sep 28th, 2023 at 10:20:39 AM EST
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Israeli Minister: West Bank is a Prison, But Not Apartheid | Tikun Olam |
Foreign minister holds secret meeting with Libyan foreign minister, boasts about it and gets her fired
Bibi Netanyahu's government is a clown car full of half-wits, thieves, goons and grifters. The latest embarrassment comes in a TV interview with "Heritage minister," Amihai Eliyahu, who is also a protege of Itamar Ben Gvir and his Religious Zionism party. His heritage? Apartheid, West Bank prisons, land theft?
Here he's defending a prohibition against traveling on "Jewish roads" in the West Bank. He explains why it's cool to refuse the Palestinians a right to travel:
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Barak Ravid reports that Biden administration officials (undoubtedly in the State Department) have severely reprimanded Israel for revealing the secret meeting. This and the firing of the foreign minister have, according to US officials, damaged US security interests:
Al Aqsa Attack and Intrusion
Kahanists to boost Likud power in Knesset, save Bibi from conviction in graft allegations
What Israel's New Kahanist Government Really Wants
For spectators of Israeli politics, particularly those following from afar, one of the most shocking aspects of the new Israeli government was the inclusion of Itamar Ben Gvir, a lifelong disciple and now political successor of the radical American-Israeli rabbi and militant Meir Kahane, as a senior minister. In the Israeli political ecosystem of yesteryear, that would have been a red line not even Benjamin Netanyahu would have crossed.
Kahane, who founded more than one group that the United States considered terrorist organizations and who was eventually barred from public office in Israel in the 1980s, never came close to the type of power Ben Gvir has acquired, partly because the latter has moderated his rhetoric. But Ben Gvir's shift in tone does not represent any changes in ideology or political vision.
Their sudden rise to power is particularly destabilizing for many progressive or liberal Zionists in Israel and the United States, who may have trouble reconciling the ideas of Ben Gvir's Jewish Power with the vision of most mainstream Zionist parties, particularly when boiled down to its creed of "maximum land with minimum Arabs." Netanyahu, though, certainly did not have to make any ideological compromises to include Jewish Power in his latest coalition.
Arab News Op-Ed Close to Saudi Throne
What Netanyahu got wrong in his UN speech
His enamor for showing graphs and maps was pitiful. His "new Middle East" offering had nothing new. The idea goes back to the era of the Oslo Accords, when a different brand of Israeli -- and Arab -- politician contemplated the vision of a time when Arabs and Israelis could live in peace and use their vast human and natural resources to turn the region into a potent powerhouse.
His enamor for showing graphs and maps was pitiful. His "new Middle East" offering had nothing new. The idea goes back to the era of the Oslo Accords, when a different brand of Israeli -- and Arab -- politician contemplated the vision of a time when Arabs and Israelis could live in peace and use their vast human and natural resources to turn the region into a potent powerhouse.
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While avoiding all this, Netanyahu still believes he can sell something to the world, when in fact his coffers are empty. His final act at the UN was to claim he was delivering a new Middle East, aptly his last show and legacy.
The reality is that his government is so radioactive that even his Abraham Accords partners are in disgust. Support for the accords has dipped, according to various surveys.
At the UN, Netanyahu brandished a map that underlined a total denial of the existence of the Palestinians. But he offered no solution. The big question today in Netanyahu's Israel is what to do with more than 3.5 million Palestinians if "Eretz Israel" is to become a reality. His new Middle East premise is missing one giant component, and he is in denial.
Netanyahu avoided mentioning how Israel is changing under his watch and he skirted mentioning the peace process altogether, as if normalizing ties with the Arab world would make the Palestinian issue disappear.
He again tried to play the Iran card but was a few steps behind in the latest geopolitical shifts. The region's countries now agree that they must deal with Iran as a neighbor and possibly a partner.
Netanyahu was rash to celebrate possible rapprochement with Saudi Arabia -- the big prize -- while ignoring Riyadh's crystal-clear and principled position on what needs to be delivered before such a historical breakthrough is ripe for the picking. In short,
Netanyahu got everything wrong at the UN; just as it appears he is getting a lot wrong back home in Israel.
