Over the weekend, Rick Richman wrote a great post about the important sounding adjectives that peace processors hurl at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in lieu of policy. Rick notes some of the most commonly used descriptors for non-existent solutions. There’s fair, equitable, sustainable, viable, impartial, and appropriate.
In Forbes today, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon weighs in with some additional goodies: durable, fully respected, comprehensive, just, and lasting.
Look, isn’t it time for the people truly committed to Middle East Peace to acknowledge that until there is a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious agreement among the two sides and a third party, the fighting will continue?
How to describe those, like the secretary general, who maintain against all evidence that there is a partner for peace anywhere in the ranks of Gaza leadership? Let’s go with disingenuous, unhelpful, unserious, delusional, and amnesiac.
Shmulik, how come we never see you commenting on the the root cause of Israel’s leadership problems – non representational government?
You seem happily caught up in the byzantine intrigues the current dysfunctional system creates . . .
You’re in a position to help change opinion on that issue, so how about it?
Israel’s political system is a sad and sick joke. Scrap that concoction of European socialists and start over. How pathetic.
Shmuel writes: “Tzipi Livni got more votes than Netanyahu, and will be ready to do it again”. She might be ready but can she do it? She got those votes due – and they came from the Left – to a scare campaign she led (“Tzipi or Bibi” whereas Israel Beiteinu’s scare campaign pulled votes from Likud, but still left Likud but one shy of Kadima). But the Left, alright, the Jewish Left, has been dramatically reduced, to the point that Meretz is almost extinct and Kadima still has quasi-Likudniks which, if they eventually jump ship, will reduce her ability “to do it again”.
On the whole, the purists in the coalition have the better approach.
Rosner brings a refreshing POV to Commentary: that of the reality-challenged Haaretz leftist. When you hold up a government that brought Israel disengagement, Hamastan, two failed wars and Ehud Olmert as some sort of paradigm, then you know you are being taken for a ride to post-Zionist Fantasyland. And when you are told that Bibi made a mistake by not bringing key failures from the previous disaster into his tent, then you know the writer is a typical Israeli hysteric grasping at straws to keep his leftwing ideology afloat.
I see what you are saying, Shmuel, but, and correct me if I’m wrong, that Netanyahu may start off with a “strong” Right-led coalition that would speak of certain principles and lack of flexibility for a while (i.e. the kind of gov’t that might act decisively against Iran) and then later (or after), when the International community “forces” us into “peace talks”, the opposition can vote no confidence and Netanyahu can bring down the government and reestablish a new coalition more suited to peace talks.
We’ve seen such things before — When Shamir collapsed the government under James Baker’s pressure to talk with the PLO in 1990. He was waiting for the failed George Hadash terror attack to take place on the Tel Aviv beach so he could put together a stronger coalition.
Could be a similiar situation now, no?
Until Israel stops using the ridiculous Proportional Representation system, which New York City gave up over 70 years ago as unworkable, we will have these “negotiations”. They mean more bribes, more extortions, and less qualified people.
Somehow, we must come up with a constituency system, and wipe these 2 and 3 person parties from the electoral process.
REGARDING IRAN’S MARCH TO NUCLEAR WEAPONRY:
1…THE EUROIDS LEFT A MESS.
2…THE CLINTONITES LEFT A MESS.
3…THE BUSHIES JUST LEFT A MESS.
4…THE OBAMAMANIACS WILL LEAVE A MESS.
WHO’S LEFT TO CLEAN UP THE “MESS”?
WHOEVER…BETTER CLEAN IT UP SOONER THAN LATER.
As one whose priority right now is the security of Israel in general,and preventing the establishment of a Palestinian terror state in particular, I definitely prefer Netanyahu to the alternatives (Livni or Barak). I agree that the coalition is extremely unstable and I wish that more of my right-wing minded friends would have gone out to vote instead of just bickering about ‘corrupt politicians’, and that ‘my vote won’t make a difference’. The right did not reach its potential in these elections, and now we will suffer the consequences. We could have realistically come out of these elections with a block of 70 mandates for the Right, instead of 65. That would have made a huge difference in terms of the government’s stability and the right’s ability to keep Netanyahu on track. Now it will just be a matter of delaying the inevitable – the breakup of the coalition – as long as possible. Still, I will take 1 or 2 years of this coalition any day over another 4 years of a left-wing government.
Why do I get the impression that the Israeli elections are the middle-eastern equivalent of our Minnesota Senate Race….When elections are “too close to call”, the results often lead to a crippled Democracy (see Bush/Gore and Franken/Coleman) that divides the “people” and fosters every conspiracy theory that one can dream up….add a uniquely-bizarre distribution of power to that and you have a “no win” situation in Israel.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM FACING ISRAEL RIGHT NOW IS **NOT** OLMERT’S FINANCIAL FRAUD; NOT ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN TOTALLY AND PERMANENTLY STOPPING/ANNIHILATING **ALL** PALESTINIANS INSIDE ISRAEL. ISRAEL MUST CORRECT/NEGATE THE HORRIBLE OSLO ACCORDS AND COMPLETELY CARRY OUT THE URGINGS OF ITS TRUE “PROPHET”, RABBI KAHANE. ANY ISRAELI JEW WHO EVEN THINKS/SPEAKS ABOUT GIVING THE PALESTINIANS MORE OF ISRAEL IN EXCHANGE FOR PEACE MUST BE BEATEN TO A PULP AND FORCED INTO EXILE, i.e. LIEBERMAN, NETANYAHU, OLMERT, LIVNI, PERES, ASHKENAZI. JERUSALEMONLINE IS NOW SHOWING A VIDEO OF ISRAEL’S NEW HIGHLY ACCURATE UNMANNED DRONE BOMBER. IT’S SO GREAT THAT INDIA IMMEDIATELY WANT’S TO BUY THEM FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. USING THESE DRONES ON A UN-INTERRUPTED 24/7 BASIS ENABLES ISRAEL TO TOTALLY FLATTEN GAZA AND THE WEST BANK, MAKE THOSE JEW MURDERERS BEG FOR MERCY AND FREE SHALIT. DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW. ARAFAT’S MAUSOLEUM MUST BE TURNED INTO RUBBLE AND HIS BODY THROWN TO THE SHARKS. DOING THAT WILL SURELY CONVINCE THE PALESTINIANS TO GET THE HELL OUT WHILE THEY’RE STILL ALIVE. SINCE ISRAEL STOPPED TOTALLY DESTROYING ITS ENEMIES, IT HAS LOST WORLDWIDE RESPECT. ISRAEL AGAIN NEEDS LEADERS LIKE KING DAVID AND MOSHE DAYAN. THE CLOSEST IS KATZELE AND THE NU PARTY.
g stern expressed a view that proves Israel is still not completely drowned in diversity and political correctness. There is hope for survival.
g stern is not propagating hate. He is not a racist. He is not a proponent of apartheid.
Were the Arabs to strive for good life, instead of using all their abilities to kill as many Jews as they possibly can, the Jews would embrace them. There would be a division of labour according to the skills and abilities of each person regardless of national affiliation. Means and lives would be used for personal prosperity and in the most efficient way. Arabs would not demand to live in Juden-frai areas, just as Jews wouldn’t ever look forward of getting rid of the Arabs among them. Alas, the suicidal desire of the Arabs to annihilate the Jews by necessity produces the self-defensive and Nation-defensive view of g stern. A Jew that values life should adopt his view.