As long as Likud’s principles remain uncompromising and Netanyahu holds firm to them there is little that will come of the peace process with the Palestinians.
Even while the prospects of reconciling Hamas and Fatah’s conflicting visions for the future are dim, Egypt has emerged as the only Middle East mediator trusted by both sides.These achievements represent the efforts of the transitional military regime to lift Egypt’s regional status out of the slump of the Mubarak era.
Many of Israel’s supporters and friends are groups that advocate hatred and intolerance. Israelis need to took a good look at themselves and decide whether they want to be associated with these racist parties. Whether Israel embraces or rejects these new-found friends will say much about the character and nature of its society and the direction it decides to take with regards to its future.
Palestine now only requires a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly, or 129 votes, to be admitted as the 194th member of the United Nations. The long conflict between Israel and Palestine has shed enough blood. It is high time that the international community worked to support the peaceful future of two sovereign states.
In this bastion of democracy amongst an otherwise hostile terrain of authoritarian regimes and despotism, how do we reconcile natural democratic values of expression with this draconian law? Human rights organisations have begun to battle, but as the years unfold it remains to be seen how such a law will pan out and how Israel will maintain its democracy.
If the U.S. genuinely cares for Israel, which I believe it really does, it should force it to decolonize now. It would be a paternal act of love. Just do it now, President Obama. And then, truly, you would deserve the Nobel Peace Prize you were awarded in Oslo.
Israel would be in a better position if it accepted the Arab Peace Plan put forward by Saudi Arabia and addressed the sixty years of UN resolutions that deal with the unilateral decision making of the Palestinian National Authority. That way Israel would benefit from normalised relations with Arab nations, which is more conducive to its national interest.
Hamas is currently treading a very risky line. For the Salafi-Jihadists, Hamas has de-legitimised itself as an Islamic group and as a leader of the resistance against Israel. Rather ironically, Hamas will be better off in the short term continuing to simultaneously straddle positions of moderation and extremism – basically maintaining the status quo.
On 17 November, the residents of Ghajar took to the streets to protest against the Israeli Security Cabinet’s approval of a plan to unilaterally withdraw the Israel Defence Force (IDF) from the northern half of the village. This move is only the latest episode in the unfortunate history of Ghajar.
It is possible that at some point in the next 15-18 months Israel’s policy-makers and military officials will need to decide whether or not to attack Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. That would certainly be one of the most complicated decisions since the establishment of the State of Israel.
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