Time Magazine's September 13 issue has a cover story titled "Why Israel Doesn't Care About Peace". It doesn't ask whether Israelis care or not, it just takes for granted that they don't and sets out to explain why. Right now, only a truncated on-line version is available and it doesn't convince me one bit that Israelis don't give a damn. Will the full article in the print edition have more proof that would change my mind? We'll have to wait until Monday to see.
I can tell you this much: Israelis care very much about the conflict. We're constantly worried about missiles from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and Iran, and most of us realize that in order to reduce the threat, we need peace. However, many Israelis are also disillusioned, which is why they put other matters first on their list of priorities. Let's deal with things we can fix first, not things that just won't move forward - that seems to be the logic.
Also, the fact that our economy is strong makes us even more aware of what we have to lose in case of war. The Second Intifadah brought with it not just blood but an economic slump, and a third Intifadah certainly would, too. Considering the state of the world economy, an Israeli recession would probably be even worse than it was in the early 2000's.
Anyway, I'll probably have another post up about the subject after I read the full article.
Farewell to Steve Silberman
1 day ago
I can tell you this much: Israelis care very much about the conflict. We're constantly worried about missiles from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and Iran, and most of us realize that in order to reduce the threat, we need peace. However, many Israelis are also disillusioned, which is why they put other matters first on their list of priorities. Let's deal with things we can fix first, not things that just won't move forward - that seems to be the logic.
ReplyDeleteYou [Israelis] may care but clearly not enough [and not enough of you]. The price tag for occupation and conflict remain far too low to induce anything near the tectonic shift in thinking needed to really start acting towards peace. What's more, Washington continues to basically reward bad behaviour, with $ 3 Bn aid per year and now an additional sweetener in the form of $ 200 Mn for Iron Dome. As the only power that could solve the conflict relatively quickly (Obama claimed that he would do just that) Washington continues to peddle the line that they 'will not and can not' impose a solution. But they could and won't...
The Second Intifadah brought with it not just blood but an economic slump, and a third Intifadah certainly would, too.
Israel, as far as I understand, is almost completely independent of Palestinian labour. How then, pray tell, could a third Intifadah hurt Israel economically, unless by Intifadah you mean support for BDS?
You seem also to gloss over the many Israelis who really don't care for peace and state so openly. We now see settlers seeking retribution for Hamas terrorism with land grabs and property demolition. We hear Lieberman almost jubilating about the upcoming 'settlement thaw' (or end of the 'chill', as I prefer to call it). We hear increasing numbers of settlers making the absurd claim that they are the 'first line of defense' and that the 1967 borders are indefensible. These people don't mind a perennial state of low level war, one which of course Israel cannot lose... With G-d on one's side there is perhaps also not so much to fear...
"Israel, as far as I understand, is almost completely independent of Palestinian labour. How then, pray tell, could a third Intifadah hurt Israel economically, unless by Intifadah you mean support for BDS?"
ReplyDeleteIt's a kind of unintentional BDS. Tourism would be the first industry to take a hit, since people will be afraid to visit Israel. But not only that - instability on the political and security fronts will harm foreign investors' confidence in the Israeli economy. Businesspeople would not do business with Israel, not as a political statement but because it would be too risky.
As for the people in your last paragraph - they exist, but they aren't the people this Time Magazine article is referring to. This reporter is saying most Israelis are indifferent to the issue of peace with the Palestinians, not that they oppose it. Those are two very different things. Lieberman, settlers and other right wingers care passionately about the conflict - just not in the way you and I would like them to care.
The point of this post is to say that, unlike Time's claim, Israelis do care very much about the conflict and peace, one way or another. To say that they don't give a damn or are apathetic is just ridiculous.