“Israeli” Roundup 29-7-2010

Netanyahu: "Israel's" government will fall if settlement freeze continues

"Haaretz", by Barak Ravid and Avi Issacharoff

Continuing the construction freeze in West Bank settlements after it expires on September 26 would be impossible politically and would bring down the coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Moratinos told Netanyahu that the European Union's position was that "Israel" should continue the freeze.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has conditioned direct talks with "Israel" on a continued construction freeze.

Jerusalem will be closely monitoring the deliberations of the Arab League foreign ministers meeting today in Cairo. A subcommittee on the Arab peace initiative is expected to announce its continued support for indirect talks between "Israel" and the Palestinians, giving Arab League backing for Abbas' decision not to begin direct talks with "Israel". The Palestinian position is that as long as no progress is made in the indirect talks there is no point in beginning direct talks.

Palestinian sources told Haaretz that Abbas seeks unequivocal clarifications from the United States that the framework for direct talks will include a declaration that the Palestinian state will be based on the June 4, 1967 borders and that border adjustments will be based on exchanges of territory. The PA also wants an "Israeli" declaration that the construction freeze in the settlements will continue and that construction in East Jerusalem will stop.

Although the PA can expect criticism of its position from the United States and even some Arab states it appears to be more worried at present about losing popularity on the Palestinian street if it were to resume direct talks with "Israel" now.

During yesterday's meeting Netanyahu reportedly told Moratinos that the Palestinians' conditions for renewing direct talks are unrealistic. He also told the Spanish foreign minister that only after a final-status agreement is reached will it be possible to drum up sufficient public support in "Israel" to push it through. Trying to do so now would bring down the ruling coalition and damage the peace process, Netanyahu said.

Several senior Palestinian and Arab officials have indicated that Abbas will tell the Arab League foreign ministers today that indirect talks with "Israel" should continue. But Moratinos told Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and President Shimon Peres that Abbas during their meeting in Amman on Tuesday that he was leaning toward agreeing to the resumption of direct talks. Moratinos said Abbas only needs to feel that he has the support of the Arab League for his decision.

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"Israel" speeds up West Bank barrier construction following court injunction

"Haaretz", by Nir Hasson

The residents had petitioned the High Court of Justice, asking it to order the state to find an alternative route for the fence. The current route would surround the village on three sides and separate it from large tracts of its land.

The SPNI, which joined the petition as a "friend of the court," opposes the route, which it says would critically damage the area's unique terrace landscape.

During a court hearing Sunday, it came out that the order to expropriate village lands for the fence, which enabled the work to begin, had expired a year ago. The state's representative had no satisfactory explanation for this, so the court issued an injunction requiring the state to explain within 45 days why the work should not be stopped. However, the justices did not order the work stopped.

The Palestinians and the SPNI say that since the injunction was issued, the Defense Ministry and the contractors have been working much faster than before. Yesterday, for example, there were five bulldozers and other heavy equipment working on a half-kilometer stretch of the fence, and other heavy equipment working elsewhere around the village.

"Yesterday and today they've been working like crazy," said Ahmed Barghut, a resident of Walajeh whose house is near the work site.

The Defense Ministry says the construction is continuing at the same pace as before, and that the court rejected the petition to stop the work.

"An appeals committee found the route met the demand to limit damage to the fabric of Palestinian life and took nature and landscape into consideration," it said.

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Time for introspection

Op-ed: We must seek minimal consensus on what kind of "Israel" it is that we really want

"Yedioth Ahronoth", Robert S. Wistrich

This year, Tisha B'Av (the annual Jewish fast day commemorating the destruction of both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem) once again reminded us of the dangers of "gratuitous hatred" without rhyme or reason for one's fellow Jews; the kind of hatred for its own sake, which seems more recently to have become part of our everyday "Israeli" reality.

Divisions between Ultra-Orthodox and Secular Jews or the bitter antagonism towards the settlers in the West Bank are of course not new, but they have lost nothing of their malevolent edge. No less distressing are the actions of those "Israeli" lecturers who defend the international anti-"Israel" boycott in the name of academic freedom and the much larger numbers of those who denounce any criticism or sanctions against these boycotters as "McCarthyism."

Such harsh polemics are happening at a time of unprecedented hatred towards "Israel" as a nation within the international community. The hysteria surrounding the Gaza flotilla brought this trend to new heights of hypocrisy.

It reflects the ongoing campaign of branding "Israel" as the "Jew" of nations - libeling it as a racist, bloodthirsty, pariah-state. At the same time, American Jewish support for "Israel's" policies, especially among liberals, has also been increasingly eroded. This has potentially dangerous consequences for our relations with the Diaspora, already tense over the issue of non-Orthodox conversions.

True, the majority of Americans still show remarkable empathy with "Israel's" dilemmas and President Obama has more recently chosen to adopt a somewhat friendlier tone to "Israel's" prime minister.

Many European leaders, while less supportive than the United States, are by no means blind to Israel's security needs, to the Iranian threat or to the disastrous implications of Hamas's violent rule in Gaza. Nevertheless, the international weakening of "Israel's" legitimacy as a state remains deeply troubling.

It has been accompanied by an unprecedented explosion of global anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism during the past few years.

Intellectual honesty needed

The assault from without is not unconnected with a growing sense of spiritual disorientation and deeply conflicted Jewish identities within Israeli society. This trend is, if anything, the most dangerous of all since social, economic and cultural alienation are centrifugal forces - accelerating the divisive schisms that already exist in "Israeli" society. Against such a background, the disaffection of the Israeli academic elite from the Zionist ethos is bound to have particularly demoralizing consequences.

For some of the anti-Zionist or "post-Zionist" intellectuals the foundation of the Jewish state in 1948 is evidently the "original sin" that has caused all subsequent Middle Eastern wars. They have, in effect, uncritically adopted the Palestinian narrative, which is not only supported by almost all Muslim holy warriors and many radical leftists, but has also infiltrated an influential sector of mainstream Western opinion.

If we are to move forward we will have to find more creative means to circumvent this destructive discourse and show the world that another path is possible - one which rejects Jihadi barbarism and terror but also excessive reliance on "Israeli" force alone.

This will not be easy. We do need to be more sensitive to the suffering of our Arab and Palestinian neighbors. But they too must take responsibility for their own terrorist nihilism, self-deception, and historic guilt (such as the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Arab lands.) They must once and for all end their tolerance of genocidal incitement to holy war against "Israel".

This will necessitate a major effort of intellectual honesty, introspection and self-criticism on all sides. It also requires considerable political will, broad international support and an unequivocal recognition of the identity of "the other" and his legitimate rights. In order to come with clean hands to the table, we "Israelis" might begin by putting our own house in order.

A good start would be to display greater empathy, tolerance and solidarity with the problems of the underprivileged - whether Jewish or Arab - in our own society. We also need to more positively internalize the tragic lessons of divisiveness and fragmentation in our own history, so that we can achieve a minimal consensus on what kind of Israel it is that we really want - both for ourselves, our neighbors, and the wider world.

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"Israelis" still wary of Turkey vacations

"Yedioth Ahronoth"

Travel agents have reported that more people are seeking vacations in Antalya after the warning on travel to Turkey was rescinded last week. However, some have noted that numbers are still small, and that the reports should be treated with caution.

We checked with several travel agents whether package deals to Antalya were available and received varying replies. Tsabar said they are not marketing such deals and would not do so in the near future. Daka 90 said, "We received no update," even though their site offers such a deal.

Confused, we returned to the agents who explained that even if we ordered the vacation on the site, the credit card would not be charged immediately. Instead, an agent would get in touch. "At present, we are not offering any vacation to this destination," they confirmed
Diesenhaus Unitours said they were offering vacations in Antalya but had nothing for us for this weekend because of the number of "Israelis" who had already booked.

However, they noted that most "Israelis" are still wary of flying to Turkey, and explained that the lack of places reflected the small number of flights.

Issta said they had something to offer us and promised to call back. Flying Carpet said they had been inundated with calls from "Israelis" seeking a vacation in Antalya.

Workers' committees said they would continue to boycott Turkey until relations between the two states returned to normal or at least until there was marked improvement.

Meanwhile, flights continue between Turkey and "Israel". Most passengers are Eastern Europeans and Russians visiting "Israel" for a day trip.

Arnon Englander, head of Holiday Lines, said "Israelis" are responding slowly to the travel warning cancellation. Issta said it was too early to announce "Israelis'" return to Antalya and that August had been lost as Israelis had found alternative destinations.

However, Issta also noted that "Israelis" love Turkey's clubs, and that if relations returned to normal between the countries, they would be delighted to return.