Shelly Schreter: Israel-The Curse of Wanting It All
Compromise is a nice concept, praised in theory but disdained in practice in the polarized climate of our times. Compromisers are suckers, weaklings who traffic in the poison called doubt, diluters of the essence. They seduce us with slogans about seeing both sides of the issue and empathizing with the needs of our antagonists. Their defeatism is delusional and destructive. They distract us from the only thing that matters, which is winning.
If this description of the atmosphere we live in seems exaggerated, just think of how much it captures the controversies around the Gaza War and the Israeli-Arab conflict. Its proponents have contaminated the public discourse to an alarming degree.
The Government of Israel seeks “total victory” over Hamas, condemning any doubts about its feasibility, and willing to sacrifice everything, including the hostages, for its realization. Hamas pursues Israel’s destruction and has demonstrated its willingness to sacrifice Gaza and its inhabitants to this glorious end. The ultimate suicide mission.
Behind Israel’s stance is the growing rightward tilt of its electorate, and the penetration into government of militants whose agenda is annexation of the West Bank and expulsion of its Palestinian inhabitants. Its most extreme, messianic elements dream of rebuilding the Third Temple and colonizing Gaza and even southern Lebanon. Behind Hamas is its patron, Iran, whose imperialistic designs on the Middle East and beyond are advanced by its proxy-terrorist network and its push for nuclear weapons capacity. Together, they are dragging us all to the abyss, a curse on both their peoples.
If sanity does not prevail, we are doomed. The moderates on both sides have to become passionate activists, contradictory as that may sound, and allies, lest the maximalists complete their nihilistic takeover.
Israel is no superpower. We depend on the support of our free-world friends. We have a compelling narrative of legitimate self-defense against those seeking our destruction. What we cannot market is the narrative of conquest, expropriation, and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank. These are tainted goods that the world will never buy. Moreover, this expansionist horror-vision subverts our self-defense narrative, making it look like nothing more than a flimsy deception, pushing Israel into the apartheid or settler-colonial state category, and validating the accusations of our enemies.
This toxic fantasy is fast approaching its expiry date. Some 145 countries, out of 193 member-states of the UN, and 14 out of 27 European Union countries officially recognize the State of Palestine today. Several of our key allies in Western Europe will likely soon join them, perhaps expedited by the Gaza War. Candidate Kamala Harris has reasserted her commitment to Israel’s self-defense, while simultaneously affirming the right of the Palestinians to dignity and self-determination. Could that be any clearer? It would not be surprising if, in the event Donald Trump wins the election, he could eventually concur. He could argue that two states, properly constructed, are in Israel’s best interests, and he would not be wrong. They would certainly be in America’s best interests.
The advocates for Israel’s West Bank settlements have long argued that there is no difference between Israel and the settlements. Some sincere, Israel-loving Diaspora Jews have adopted this view. They will have to recognize the critical distinction between the two. You can’t have it all. Going for all-or-nothing means you could wind up with nothing, for example submersion of the Jewish state into a nightmarish, binational Jewish-Palestinian state. Making support of the settlements a loyalty test for friends of Israel is a foolish, fatal error.
There is a strong message here for the Palestinians. They can’t have it all, either. Their national movement overcame colossal odds in consolidating itself, contending with enemies, and establishing itself on the Middle East and global stages. Their leadership was often dysfunctional. Their thinkers and ideologues intellectuals got stuck in the limitations of anti-colonialist and Third World ideologies. They remain dispersed, internally divided between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, and often destitute, in Gaza and elsewhere.
Hamas leaves no illusions about its total dedication to Israel’s annihilation. The PA officially recognizes Israel and co-operates with it in suppressing West Bank terror – not very effectively of late. Whether this stems from genuine mutual recognition or from the PA’s need to overcome defeat its Hamas rival, is a matter of controversy. The PA is in dire condition today, with low approval ratings, a corrupt, geriatric leadership, and fading prospects of fending off the appeal of Hamas. The Israeli government’s long-term, divide-and-rule policy of weakening the PA and reinforcing Hamas has contributed significantly to this situation. Whether the PA can be reformed and play a role in the future governance of Gaza, and in resurrecting a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, is an open question, and depends a lot on Israel. It is a weak vessel for a great task.
All I am saying is that if the Palestinians can empower their moderates, they have a chance. The world is signaling its receptivity to the two-state format, in which Palestinian dignity, security and self-determination could be built, alongside, but not instead of Israel. If they fail to transcend their insistence on reversing 1948 – as in full Right of Return, “from the river to the sea”, global intifada, etc. – they will simply replicate their past tragedies and get nowhere. That would suit the Israeli/Jewish maximalists perfectly, confirming their narrative and facilitating their triumph over the moderates on their side.
The parallels between the maximalists and the moderates on both sides are striking. I wish I had the formula for engineering the rise and mutual support of the Israeli and Palestinian moderates, who need each other badly for basic credibility. I conclude hopefully by quoting the apt Biblical mandate (Deuteronomy, 30:19): “I call heaven and earth today to bear witness against you: I have placed life and death before you, blessing and curse; and you shall choose life, so that you will live, you and your offspring.”
