It is almost hard to believe that in the space of just a few decades, Israel went from being a seemingly willing partner in efforts to try and create a lasting peace in the troubled Middle East, to being a virtual Jewish supremacist state, almost officially encouraging settlers to occupy territories that have traditionally been recognized as belonging to the Palestinians, while simultaneously following a policy that increasingly seems to call into question the possibility that anyone not of the Jewish faith can actually be Israeli.
Frankly, it was not long ago when Israel seemed to be accepting of the idea of a two state solution as at least a viable, if not an outright attractive, solution.
But under Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been the on again off again elected leader of Israel since the mid-1990's, that has decidedly changed. Israel is increasingly transparent in their desire simply to take over these occupied territories and make them a part of greater Israel, and to disenfranchise the Palestinians everywhere. Under Netanyahu, things have not grown better or more peaceful. In fact, the situation has gotten worse, and significantly worse at that.
Nor is it really a mystery why this is the case. For proof, just look at Netanyahu's policies, which have reflected an unwillingness to work with Palestinians. He is not even really hiding this fact, or pretending to aspire to a peaceful, two-state solution, or embracing Palestinians within Israel. He has recently gotten considerable criticism for saying that Israel is "the national state, not of all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people." These comments he made in response to an Instagram story quite critical of Netanyahu's government, which was posted by Israeli actress and TV host Rotem Sela regarding comments made by Culture Minister and Likud member Miri Regev.
He elaborated:
"According to the basic nationality law we passed, Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people - and only it."
Whatever you say of Netanyahu, no one can criticize him of any ambiguity, or lacking clarity. He could not really be much more direct.
Clearly, that statement is one of exclusion, and shows a decided intolerance of anyone who does not fall into Netanyahu's obviously narrow definition of who can qualify as an Israeli. After all, he could not be more transparent. Again, it bears repeating that according to him, Israel does not belong to "all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people."
Yet, rather paradoxically, Netanyahu also suggested that Palestinians are not a problem, and that they have equal rights, even though he stuck to the idea that Israel clearly does not belong to them. After mentioning the nationality law, Netanyahu continued by boasting of how generous he and his party have been towards the Palestinians:
“As you wrote, there is no problem with the Arab citizens of Israel. They have equal rights like all of us and the Likud government has invested more in the Arab sector than any other government.”
Meanwhile, criticism of Israel, and of Netanyahu's policies along with it, has been basically outlawed here in the United States. If you dare to criticize Israel, you automatically open yourself up to charges of being anti-Semitic. As if criticizing these intolerant policies of a man who is currently facing serious charges of blatant corruption somehow reflects a hatred of a whole group of people. This situation is truly absurd.
Indeed, Netanyahu has survived all sorts of problems and controversies. Maybe these latest allegations of corruption will finally do him in, and he will no longer be Israel's leader for long. But for now, he remains in power, and as a hardline conservative - he is known as the most right wing leader that Israel has ever had - he continues the process of pushing any potential peaceful solution as far away as humanly possible. By so clearly putting the emphasis on making Israel for Jews only, it seems to me that his is doubling down on the gamble that Israel will continue to enjoy the upper hand for the foreseeable future. Whether that is wise or not remains to be seen, but it sure does not bode well for the prospect of Middle East peace in the near future. But his interests seem to be in creating a greater state of Israel, with the Palestinian territories as part of that Israel, and being able to force this to become a reality by obtaining weaponry from the American military industrial complex, which is profiting greatly from all of this.
No wonder it is basically unlawful to criticize Israel in this country, eh?
Nor is it really a mystery why this is the case. For proof, just look at Netanyahu's policies, which have reflected an unwillingness to work with Palestinians. He is not even really hiding this fact, or pretending to aspire to a peaceful, two-state solution, or embracing Palestinians within Israel. He has recently gotten considerable criticism for saying that Israel is "the national state, not of all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people." These comments he made in response to an Instagram story quite critical of Netanyahu's government, which was posted by Israeli actress and TV host Rotem Sela regarding comments made by Culture Minister and Likud member Miri Regev.
He elaborated:
"According to the basic nationality law we passed, Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people - and only it."
Whatever you say of Netanyahu, no one can criticize him of any ambiguity, or lacking clarity. He could not really be much more direct.
Clearly, that statement is one of exclusion, and shows a decided intolerance of anyone who does not fall into Netanyahu's obviously narrow definition of who can qualify as an Israeli. After all, he could not be more transparent. Again, it bears repeating that according to him, Israel does not belong to "all its citizens, but only of the Jewish people."
Yet, rather paradoxically, Netanyahu also suggested that Palestinians are not a problem, and that they have equal rights, even though he stuck to the idea that Israel clearly does not belong to them. After mentioning the nationality law, Netanyahu continued by boasting of how generous he and his party have been towards the Palestinians:
“As you wrote, there is no problem with the Arab citizens of Israel. They have equal rights like all of us and the Likud government has invested more in the Arab sector than any other government.”
Meanwhile, criticism of Israel, and of Netanyahu's policies along with it, has been basically outlawed here in the United States. If you dare to criticize Israel, you automatically open yourself up to charges of being anti-Semitic. As if criticizing these intolerant policies of a man who is currently facing serious charges of blatant corruption somehow reflects a hatred of a whole group of people. This situation is truly absurd.
Indeed, Netanyahu has survived all sorts of problems and controversies. Maybe these latest allegations of corruption will finally do him in, and he will no longer be Israel's leader for long. But for now, he remains in power, and as a hardline conservative - he is known as the most right wing leader that Israel has ever had - he continues the process of pushing any potential peaceful solution as far away as humanly possible. By so clearly putting the emphasis on making Israel for Jews only, it seems to me that his is doubling down on the gamble that Israel will continue to enjoy the upper hand for the foreseeable future. Whether that is wise or not remains to be seen, but it sure does not bode well for the prospect of Middle East peace in the near future. But his interests seem to be in creating a greater state of Israel, with the Palestinian territories as part of that Israel, and being able to force this to become a reality by obtaining weaponry from the American military industrial complex, which is profiting greatly from all of this.
No wonder it is basically unlawful to criticize Israel in this country, eh?
The following links are to the articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry, and from which I obtained all of the quotes used above:
Netanyahu Says Israel Is 'Nation-State Of The Jewish People And Them Alone' by Bill Chappell and Daniel Estrin, March 11, 2019:
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/11/702264118/netanyahu-says-israel-is-nation-state-of-the-jewish-people-and-them-alone?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20190311&fbclid=IwAR1pDav7ckDf-3Qqyx3aj90hhHVFDgiXvWORvX4z3SLr2NW4oS47Qq4HTPI
Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is ‘not a state of all its citizens’ by Agence France-Presse in Jerusalem, Sun 10 Mar 2019.
Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel is a state 'only of the Jewish people' published by Al Jazeera, 11 Mar 2019:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-state-jewish-people-190311092510577.html
No comments:
Post a Comment