IRRESPONSIBLE CONDUCT
Dr. Philip Bliss
IRRESPONSIBLE CONDUCT Rabbi Dow Marmur
In retrospect, my pessimistic predictions made a couple of days ago about the outcome of the forthcoming (albeit indirect) peace talks with the Palestinians were far too subdued. I’m always disappointed when the bad news I bring turn out to be accurate, this time, alas, even worse – and Lieberman isn’t even the cause of it.
The culprit is Eli Yishai, Israel’s Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister. He has torpedoed the planned talks when his office announced the approval of the building of 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem. Even the most naïve Israeli will refuse to believe the ministry’s statement that the announcement had nothing to do with Vice President Biden’s current visit to Israel and the United States’ efforts to help narrow the gap (abyss?) between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
This was a deliberate attempt to undermine the expected start of talks. Yishai is the chairman of Shas which no less than other extremist parties in the coalition rejects the idea of a two-state solution, presumably in favour of the status quo, i.e., permanent occupation of the territories and the growing ghettoization of Israel among the nations.
And Prime Minister Netanyahu isn’t really in charge. Though he’s said to have pleaded with his hothead ministers to keep a low profile during Biden’s visit, Yishai has deliberately gone against the request. It’ll probably make him into a hero of the political right. The fact that the housing units are intended for the ultra-Orthodox will secure support from the religious extremists. He knows that Netanyahu needs the Shas party he chairs to maintain the government and therefore assumes that he’ll get away with this deliberate snub of the Prime Minister and embarrassment to the whole country.
It’s difficult to disagree with the spokesman of the Palestinian Authority when he described this action as clear evidence that the Government of Israel doesn’t want to talk peace, even though the Prime Minister has declared his commitment to a two-state solution and the majority of Israel’s population supports it.
Vice President Biden may have come to a similar conclusion. He issued a statement condemning the decision, as did the White House. He and his wife kept Mr. and Mrs. Netanyahu waiting for more than an hour before joining them for dinner. By then not only the soup had gone cold. Biden must also know what has been obvious to many of us for some time: his host may be a good talker but cannot really deliver, partly because of his coalition partners but perhaps also because he himself is inclined to turn a blind eye to his cabinet colleagues’ imperialist excesses. He may even share them.
The only way of making sure that the will of the people prevails and that the country’s Prime Minister can act on it is for Netanyahu now to dissolve the coalition because of the announcement of the Minister of the Interior and for the opposition party Kadima to join his government. This would make it possible to keep not only Shas but also Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu out of power. But will Tzipi Livni, the leader of Kadima, rise to the occasion? Yes, it would mean to rehabilitate Netanyahu, her arch-rival, but shouldn’t the good of the country matter more? (What a naïve question!)
I’ve hitherto refused to believe those who’ve accused the government of not really wanting peace. After yesterday’s shocking announcement I’ve run out of arguments in its defense. It’s difficult not to be alarmed by such irresponsible conduct.
Jerusalem 10.3.10 Dow Marmur
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