By Yoram Getzler: Prime Minister Benjaminn Netanyahu was visibly proud of himself as he presented his latest attempt at a profound and penetrating mantra with which to devastate Israel's enemies.
Only problem; our enemies enjoy a kind of immunity from criticism or reasoned assault when the subject is Israel in Judea & Samaria.
Not withstanding the endless enthusiasm by the advocates of our historic rights in the biblical heartland after four decades we have not seen even one international body or individual member of the family of nations support our claims. Even our best friend, the United States continues to criticize and demand first a end to our building there and further our withdrawal.
Now, in the aftermath of the murderous attack on a family in the small community of Itamar, we are outraged that the world press, and especially the electronic media including CNN; BBC etc do not share our sense of the desecration of our elemental rights as human beings. We are justly outraged that this brutality (from the word brute) is compared to the building of homes. We rant that the world response is unjust, unconscionable and a betrayal of all standards of human behavior. Let us remember the “world” rarely if ever has been motivated to action by dead Jews.
But I recommend we come to understand that we are NOT living in the world of justice or rightness. We are fooling ourselves if we believe that the world cares about the actual issues of human respect and humane behavior even in conflicts. At least when it comes to Israel we are abandoned to the jungle of behavior even “wild” animals usually do not engage in.
It is not an expression of “right”, and certainly not of justice, but it is the sad reality in which for a number of reasons we exist. That is not to say we should accept this distorted situation, but prudence and a desire to survive demands of us to take this misshapen contemporary bias into account. That is, if we seek life for our nation.
Withdrawing from Judea & Samaria will not guarantee us reconciliation, peace and acceptance. However, it does provide a better chance that the constant, daily irritations that becomes international issues and causes in which we are condemned, to lessen. That is a desired, worthy and admirable goal, not guaranteed, and not to be dismissed out of hand
In the reality within which we exist, there is no perfect resolution to our conflict with the Palestinian / Arab / Muslim world. Their animosity and distorted historical beliefs are beyond our ability the actually change. But, we must make every reasonable effort to lessen the opportunities for further and ongoing rejection of our rights to any of this land. There is some justice, difficult as it may be for us to accept it. And it requires us to share this land. It demands that neither of the two peoples are entitled to the whole of the land.
We must understand and internalize the idea that it is critical that we employ both bravery and daring in our struggle to survive and bring justice to our cause. If there ever were in the past, there are no more perfect solutions to the conundrum of these two peoples claiming the same land. We must again, as in 1947 accept and celebrate the idea of two-states-for-two people, and demand that the Palestinian/Arab/Muslim world accept it as well. That should now be the focus of our efforts on the world stage.
Netanyahu over 30 years ago. It is not so that I notice the impressive Mr. Netanyahu the younger so much, but the difference in temper of the audience.
