“Israeli” Newspapers Roundup: 5 Years after 2006 War, “Israeli” Military Reservists Wonder if Protests Made a Difference
Gili Cohen, Haaretz- Five years after Lebanon war, IDF reservists wonder if their protests made a difference
Return of Amir Peretz and Dan Halutz is a failure, they say, but the army functions much better.
Five years after the Second Lebanon War, the leaders of the reservists' protest are watching as those who ran the country in the summer of 2006 slowly make their way back into politics, and they feel that their main achievement is evaporating. Then-Defense (War) Minister Amir Peretz is now running for the chairmanship of Labor, and then-"Israel" Defense (War) Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has joined Kadima and launched a political career.
"What a story, huh?" said Yakir Segev, one of the leaders of the reservists' protest following the war.
Asaf Davidof, a soldier in the Alexandroni Brigade, termed it "the biggest absurdity in the country. People who failed are making a comeback in a big way."
Davidof, along with another colleague from the brigade, Roni Zweigenbaum, organized a march by reservists after they returned from the fighting in Lebanon in 2006. Later they set up a protest tent in the Knesset Rose Garden in Jerusalem and urged passersby to sign a petition headlined, "Olmert, Peretz, Halutz - Go Home!"
Later, they were joined by many more: reserve officers and soldiers, and also politicians who tried, some successfully and others less so, to ride the wave.
Segev, formerly a company commander in the Egoz Battalion and now a major in the reserves, thinks that despite the return of the failed leaders of 2006, the reservists' struggle succeeded.
"I made the protest because I thought you can't have such an incident, such a war, without the public saying anything," he said. "There was a terrible failure of the leadership: irresponsible, unserious, failed, mistaken behavior. And the public had things to say for itself. Even if it was from the gut, it was authentic."
But Dr. Baruch Eitam, a paratrooper who was also one of the leaders of the protest, thinks differently.
"My reason for engaging in this was mostly a matter of values, to hold a discussion on the gap between the values according to which the "Israeli" leadership operates and those of the citizenry," he said. "And I can say that in this, we failed entirely.
"My purpose was not to remove these people but to establish a norm. Today, leadership contests are like standing in line for the bus or at the supermarket: If you can screw the other guy, then great, wonderful."
Moral statement
Ever since the reservists' protest, it seems the "Israeli" public has been trying to stir up other protests, for almost any reason, even if only for a day or two. Once it was over the reform in public transportation, another time over the radical increase in the price of cottage cheese at the supermarket.
"It could be we overdid it, and it [protest] has moved into other realms," Segev said. He mocked the latest protest: "'The price of cottage cheese went up? We want the finance minister to resign!'
"But at the end of the day," he added, "the public had to make a moral statement, unequivocally and uncompromisingly, about the war: Go home. This correction had to be made, and sometimes it happens in a radical way. It's true that afterward, people may do it [protest] more easily."
Eitam, a research psychologist by profession, said that he sees what is happening in "Israel" as extraordinary. "We are being dragged into the abyss, but no one is wearing sackcloth and ashes or going up to Jerusalem," he said. "There is a great lack of agreement about values among the public, but it doesn't manifest itself in dramatic ways.
"During the war, there were large demonstrations, because people need a narrative," he added. "It can't be something abstract."
Half a decade later, Davidof's battalion will commemorate the day the war began by doing reserve duty.
"Our struggle? It's already over," he said. "Today we mainly recall memories of the war, memories of the guys."
Yet the protest's impact has been noticeable. No military or political leader wants a repeat of the Winograd Committee's scathing report on the war, and some say the result has been an overreaction bordering on paranoia when it comes to countering threats. One example is the authorities' handling of the recent attempt by pro-Palestinian activists to fly en masse into "Israel".
"At this time, it's not possible to judge the hesitation and fear that took over during the war," Davidof said. "I assume that now, brigade commanders think about every move 10 times [before acting]. They do not want a monkey like [the Winograd report] on their back, which would prevent them from advancing in the army or getting a job when they retire."
Nonetheless, the protest leaders said, the IDF has changed for the better since 2006. In contrast to the confused orders, missing equipment and mistakes of that war, they are now more or less satisfied with the army's functioning.
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Barak Ravid, Haaretz- Netanyahu fears 'surprise' for "Israel" in Quartet's latest peace push
Foursome of Mideast peacemakers expected to include Obama's 1967 formula in statement set for release Monday afternoon.
The foreign ministers of the Middle East Quartet will be meeting Monday in Washington and are expected to release a statement endorsing U.S. President Barack Obama's May 19 speech on the Middle East, which called for negotiations between "Israel" and the Palestinians on the borders of a future state based on pre-1967 lines with agreed-upon land swaps.
According to sources in Jerusalem, the Quartet, which consists of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, will not invite the parties to a summit meeting but will instead send a delegation to the region to determine if the will exists and the time is ripe for renewed negotiations.
On Sunday the group of eight senior "Israeli" cabinet members convened to discuss the anticipated announcement by the Quartet following a similar meeting on Friday. A source in Jerusalem said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet colleagues have concerns that the Quartet announcement could provide a surprise for "Israel" similar to Obama's May speech, the contents of which were revised less than 24 hours before it was delivered.
Monday's meeting of Quartet foreign ministers and the UN secretary general comes after the European Union exerted intense pressure for the presentation of an international peace plan on the conflict. The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has argued such a peace proposal would constitute an alternative to the Palestinian push for recognition of an independent Palestinian state at the UN in September, and that it might convince the Palestinians to refrain from going forward with their plans.
In the past two weeks, France has put heavy pressure on Ashton and the other Quartet members for the group's statement to include an invitation to "Israel" and the Palestinians to resume negotiations based on Obama's remarks on the 1967 borders and on recognition of "Israel" as a Jewish state.
The U.S. is proposing a Quartet statement that mentions the Obama address in relatively general terms and announces that a Quartet delegation would visit the region for additional talks.
"Israeli" sources have said Netanyahu has been somewhat more flexible in his stance regarding the principles expressed in Obama's address, saying that he would agree to base talks on the 1967 borders with land swaps. In exchange, he is seeking Obama administration ratification of President George W. Bush's letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon regarding Jewish West Bank settlement blocs coming under "Israeli" sovereignty and for Palestinian refugees to be resettled in a future Palestinian state.
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Lahav Harkov and Gil Hoffman, the Jerusalem Post- Opposition MKs intensify efforts against 'Boycott Bill'
Anti-boycott law is expected to pass; PMO says it will not postpone vote; Meretz's Gal-On proposes bill to label products made in West Bank.
MKs on all sides of the political spectrum prepared for Monday's vote on the "Boycott Bill," with opposition factions drafting counter-legislation and working to enlist coalition members to vote against the proposed law.
MK Zehava Gal-On (Meretz) proposed on Sunday legislation requiring that all products manufactured in the West Bank be labeled as such.
The "Boycott Bill, sponsored by coalition chairman Ze'ev Elkin (Likud), would allow citizens to bring civil suits against persons and organizations that call for economic, cultural or academic boycotts against "Israel", "Israeli" institutions or regions under "Israeli" control.
Should the measure pass in its second and third (final) readings on Monday, it would also prevent the government from doing business with companies that initiate or comply with such boycotts.
"Settlement products are part of the widespread occupation economy," Gal- On said. "Requiring products to be labeled will allow "Israeli" consumers to fight against those who seek to defend the occupation, and won't allow the differentiation between "Israel" and the occupied territory beyond the Green Line to be blurred."
Gal-On pointed out that products exported to the European Union are labeled if they are manufactured in the West Bank. ""Israeli" citizens should know what European consumers know," she said.
The current law requires packaging to include the manufacturer's name and an address, but not the location of production.
"For me, blue and white stops at the Green Line," Gal-On said. "I don't buy products manufactured in the settlements."
Knesset legal adviser Eyal Inon also came out against the "Boycott Bill" on Sunday, Channel 2 reported. He said its legality was questionable and that it would not stand the test of a challenge in the High Court of Justice, according to the report.
However, a Knesset spokesman said that Inon had yet to reach a conclusion, and plans to meet with Elkin on Monday morning before giving a legal assessment.
Elkin could decide on Monday to delay the votes, either because of Yinon's opposition or because of the Middle East Quartet's meeting taking place in Washington. A source close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said there was a "reasonable chance" that he would ask Elkin to delay the votes at the last minute.
The Prime Minister's Office, however, announced early Monday morning that it would not stop efforts to present the bill. If the votes do take place, the legislation is expected to be passed into law by a wide margin. The only coalition MKs who have come out against the bill are Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, ministers Michael Eitan and Dan Meridor and Independence faction chairwoman Einat Wilf. Eitan is abroad and the others are not expected to participate in the vote.
Likud Party members received a recorded phone call on Sunday explaining the bill and asked whether they supported it. The telephone poll was sponsored by the Likud's nationalist task force, which reported that 91 percent of the 32,409 people who took part in the poll voted in favor of it, and only 9 percent voted against it.
In the opposition, Kadima is expected to decide on Monday to enforce faction discipline in order to force MKs who support the bill such as Ronit Tirosh and Otniel Schneller to vote against it.
"The bill is correct and I support it, but we'll see what happens in the faction," Tirosh said.
A successful filibustering maneuver by Kadima could harm the bill's chances of approval because Shas MK Nissim Ze'ev's daughter is getting married on Monday and his faction is invited to the wedding.
MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima), one of the bill's most vocal critics, told The Jerusalem Post it comes from "a lobby of settlers in the Knesset."
"Their goal is to ensure that there is no public discussion of the most controversial topic - isolated settlements," he said. "They want to limit freedom of expression and political protest."
He said that the bill "uses the vaguest term - "calling for a boycott" - which means that even a post on Facebook could turn into a crime.
"The bill does not fight delegitimization, it only gives more ammunition to those who claim "Israel" is a non-democratic, apartheid state," Plesner told the Post. "It harms democratic freedoms. I doubt it will pass the High Court's standards."
He also said that bureaucrats in the Foreign Ministry and the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry have said that the bill will not be effective in combating boycotts abroad.
Dozens of left-wing activists gathered outside the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem on Sunday to protest the legislation, in a demonstration organized by Peace Now.
Protesters held up signs reading "This law will destroy democracy," "Stop the Boycott Bill," "The settlers are not above the law" and "Fascism will not stand."
"I think that "Israel" is slowly but surely becoming an authoritarian state," demonstrator Tuvia Goodman of Tel Aviv said. He said that though "Israel" is the "only" democratic state in the Middle East, it is "going towards dictatorship."
Gush Shalom founder and former MK Uri Avnery said that if the bill passes, it will be a "black stain of shame in "Israel's" law books."
"This is a law to strengthen the settlements and immunize them," Avnery said. "Anyone who dares criticize settlements will pay, simple as that. I call for MKs to vote against the ‘Boycott Bill,' which kills what is left of "Israeli" democracy."
