I am sitting on a CCAR sponsored conference call with Aaron David Miller, Anat Hoffman, and Yossi Klein Halevi. Miller's article, "The False Religion of Mideast Peace: And why I'm no longer a believer" in the May/June issue of Foreign Policy got much cudos on the call. Miller himself was a very informative and coherent analyst on the call. I'm reading the article as soon as the call ends, check it out yourself.
I will offer a sermon about the Gaza Flotilla and its larger issues tomorrow night at services drawing on the insights of these analysts and the text study shared by Rabbi Micah Greenstein about the existence of evil and how we respond to it.
Some points from the call:
Miller's points:
* Israel still has no strategy regarding Gaza
* Dysfunction is THE defining characteristic of Israeli - Palestinian negotiations and relations.
* Other crises are inevitable, especially with Hezbollah. They have amassed a stockpile of high trajectory missiles AND Israel has no better plans to respond than it had in its unsuccessful war in Lebanon in 2006.
* There will be no fix to the Gaza problem because there's no lasting fix to the Palestinian issue.
* Iran moves dangerously closer to nuclear weapons by the day and there's no fix on the horizon, only "drift" - which encourages the last ditch open: military action.
* This flotilla crisis may bring some clarity and improvement to the US-Israel relationship.
Hoffman pointed out:
*Israel is not the only country imposing the embargo. Egypt, in its desire to keep the Muslim Brotherhood from linking up with Hamas also has a blockade and embargo on Gaza.
*The list of products on the Gaza embargo is random and not productive, i.e. pasta is allowed because John Kerry demanded it but sesame seeds are not. Shampoo is allowed in but conditioner is not. This caused a problem recently over conditioning shampoo. "It is hard defend the lists, but I can't say that Israel is causing a humanitarian crisis."
*Israel needs us now more than ever. Do not boycott and do not hold back your investment and engagement with Israel. We are moving towards greater pluralism in Israel and boycotts only encourage more "Masada mentality" in which Israelis see themselves as hopelessly trapped, surrounded. Such thinking produces terrible outcomes. (See Yediot Achranot article)
Yossi Klein Halevi:
* We must have a two state solution and most Israelis agree with this. It is an existential necessity, however most Israelis also feel that a two state solution under current circumstances would be an existential threat. Especially since the Goldstone Report, Israelis are now convinced that withdrawal from the West Bank would be suicidal because they believe the world would not allow Israel any clout to respond to terrorism launched from those areas.
* So long as Hamas is a significant player in Palestinian politics, there will be no two-state solution. Israelis are simply too afraid of a Hamas takeover of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and could never accept it.
* For most Israelis the question of the Gaza siege is tactical and not moral. i.e. liberal columnist Ben Caspit in Maariv's article, "It's not enough to be right one also has to be smart." Israelis overwhelmingly accept the siege as morally legitimate.
* The growing crisis between liberal diaspora Jews and Israel is highlighted by reactions to the flotilla. 90% of Israelis want the IDF to stop the next ship coming to Gaza. What would American Jews say? (probably much less he guesses).
* The lack of balance in coverage and condemnation is inexplicable. For example, IAEA experts announced yesterday that Iran has enough fuel in the works for two nuclear weapons. That story was on page 4 of the IHT; the front page was flooded with condemnation of Israel. No country, no UN body has met or condemned that development. See Daniel Henninger's very clear op-ed piece on this same issue in today's Wall Street Journal.
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