Ari Shavit sheds light on the real significance of Bibi's speech. You'd never know it, though, if you listened to NPR this morning: Netanyahu Puts Restrictions On A Palestinian State
Of course, Bibi was speaking to two main constituencies: the Israeli mainstream and President Obama. As Shavit points out, he took a gamble with his own coalition, but it was the courageous, and correct thing to do. Now the ball is back squarely in the Palestinians', and Arab world's court.
david brumer
The Unifier
Ari Shavit
Benjamin Netanyahu placed the spotlight squarely on one irreplaceable phrase: a demilitarized Palestinian state next to a Jewish State of Israel. He put on the table a clear, realistic and precise diplomatic formula that reflects the worldview of the Israeli majority. The root of the conflict is the Palestinians' refusal to recognize Jewish history, Jewish sovereignty and the Jewish people's right to a state in the Land of Israel.
Netanyahu's new move is dangerous. If he loses the right without gaining the left and Barack Obama, it could destroy him. But that is precisely why the Bar-Ilan speech was a courageous one. Netanyahu is well aware of the dangers ahead. Yet at the decisive moment, several days ago, he told his worried aides that he would do the right thing, even if it brought about his downfall. In that moment, he proved that he is not a politician but a statesman. He proved that he has matured. At the end of a long and painful labor, he has given birth to his internal truth.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Ari Shavit (and Bibi) get it exactly right: A Demilitarized Palestinian State next to The Jewish State of Israel
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2 comments:
What Netanyahu said was reasonable. but Egypt's Hosni Mubarak rejected the idea that the Palestinians should recognize Israel as a Jewish state. One would think that Egypt had done so at the time of the Camp David Agreement. Perhaps that shows that agreements with Arab states, even rational, moderate states like Egypt, are never entirely honored.
were they to recognize israel as a jewish state, they would be foresaking their plans to inherit the zionist entity once the jew became a minority.
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