Well-handled, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Ratherthan apologize to the Turkish government for the deaths of nine of itsnationals on the Mavi Marmara, youdug in and now your ambassador to Ankara has been expelled. At this rate, theonce critical Israeli-Turkish relationship will soon be finished, leavingIsrael with no friends in the region except shaky Jordan.
The peace treaty with Egypt is holding, but justbarely and Egypt can hardly be considered a friend anymore. Its people despiseIsrael and identify it with former President Mubarak, the one Egyptianrelationship Israel bothered cultivating. Israel's de facto friendship withSyria will end when President Bashar al-Assad goes. He is no Zionist, but hehas been a force for stability on Syria's border with Israel, and Lebanon's,too.
Once he's gone, the north will almost surely heatup, especially now that Hezbollah plays a dominant role in the Lebanesegovernment. As for the Palestinians, Netanyahu says that if they dare to taketheir case to the United Nations later this month, he may declare the Osloagreement null and void. In other words, the Palestinians will be deemedenemies of Israel. Again.
In short, Binyamin Netanyahu is very close to bringingIsrael back to where it was before the Oslo agreement of 1993. There is even thestrong possibility that he will take it back to where it was before the CampDavid peace treaty with Egypt -- with the added disaster that the relationshipwith Turkey (established in 1948) will also be gone.
In a normal country, a record of disastrous failureslike those would lead to Netanyahu's departure from office. But not in Israel. Despiteall the damage he has done to the country's security and to its economy (note themassiveprotests against Netanyahu's Tea Party economics), heremains in office because the right supports him and Israel is governed by anentirely right-wing coalition.
The worst part is that nearly all of Israel'sproblems with its neighbors could be resolved by ending the occupation. Eventhe economy would benefit if the Israeli government was not wasting so muchmoney on the settlers and their exorbitant demands.
Israel's propaganda machine would have it otherwise.It insists that the Palestinians, and the Arabs and Muslims throughout theworld who support them, don't really care about the occupation. Their goal, weare constantly told, is to destroy Israel itself. As proof, they insist that"the Palestinians have never recognized Israel's right to statehood."
This is the kind of thing that used to be called the"big lie." The Palestinians have repeatedly recognized Israel's right tostatehood and security within the '67 borders.
For those who have forgotten, that is what PresidentClinton, Prime Minister Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat agreed to on theWhite House lawn that day in 1993. Israel recognized Palestinian rights and thePalestinians recognized Israel. In the years since, neither side has threatenedto revoke that recognition until last month when Netanyahu began saying thatOslo could be revoked if the Palestinians go to the United Nations.
But why?
The Palestinian turn to the United Nations offersthe solution to virtually all of Israel's problems. President Mahmoud Abbassays that once Palestine is recognized by the international body, he will resumenegotiations with Israel over all the issues thatdivide the two sides. The only difference will be that negotiations will bebetween two states, not one powerful state and one supplicant hoping a fewcrumbs fall off the table.
Netanyahu is terrified of a U.N. vote. He and hisemissaries are going around the world demanding that the statehood resolutionbe voted down. And the combined forces of Netanyahu and the lobby here havecajoled the Obama administration to join Netanyahu in demanding a "no" vote.
It is clear that Netanyahu wants to preserve thestatus quo, even if it means that Israel reverts to a position where every oneof its neighbors is an actual or potential enemy, even if it means that itsstrategic relationship with Turkey is over, even if it means that it has no onein the region to help prevent war with Iran.
It sounds crazy, but only because it is. Netanyahu'shighest priority is to maintain the occupation. The settlers and the religiousfanatics are his people; the Israelis of Tel Aviv and Haifa are not. It's notthat Israel's security does not matter to Netanyahu. It does. But for him,Ariel and the crazed settlers of Hebron matter every bit as much as the stateitself. To him, there is no difference. (On that score, Netanyahu is much likePalestinian extremists who view all of Israel as occupied territory. Netanyahumakes no distinctions either.)
Netanyahu is bringing Israel to the brink and no oneis doing anything about it. Both the president and Congress go along with Netanyahubecause the lobby tells them that the only way to support Israel (and, in turn,be supported by its "friends") is toapprove of everything done by the Israeli prime minister. That is why thePalestinians have to go to the U.N. They cannot expect anything from the UnitedStates or even the Europeans (who are being pressured heavily on Netanyahu'sbehalf by the U.S.).
The U.N. vote is expected to occur on September 20. Itis too much to hope that America will do what it knows is the right thing andvote "yes" or be an honest broker and abstain. The best we can hope for is thatthe United States and Israel are part of a very small minority voting "no." Thatkind of vote will strengthen the Palestinians and perhaps frighten Netanyahuinto negotiating in good faith.
But even if not, the U.N. will have stated that thePalestinians are people, too; people with rights, including the right to fullsovereignty in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. At that point, thewriting will be on the wall. The occupation is ending, hopefully before Netanyahudoes too much more damage ... to Israel.