By Ira Sharkansky
JERUSALEM–The morning after the beginning of Israeli-Palestinian “proximity talks” found Israel’s media reporting accusations of deception, and denials, coming from important players in Israel, Palestine, and the United States.
Did Prime Minister Netanyahu promise not to build in Ramat Shlomo for two years, as indicated by American and Palestinian sources, or did he assert that housing construction would continue throughout Jerusalem, but that it would take a couple of years to move through the planning, and onto the construction in Ramat Shlomo.
Did the Palestinians actually commit themselves, once again, to stop anti-Israel incitement, and does anyone take them seriously this time? Will the message reach Palestinian school rooms, youth movements, newspapers, radio and television broadcasters?
Americans are talking, without details, about commitments received from both sides, and saying that they will let the world know which side is responsible if the peace talks fail. Among all the events and statements that will occur up to such an event, will anyone be able to weigh Israeli and Palestinian comments, actions, or failure to take action, and to calculate which side is more responsible? And if so, will they have the will to publish an accurate report and condemnation?
Activists in Gaza celebrated the prospect of peace by trying to make it even more remote. They sent a rocket toward Israel, leading the IDF to bomb a tunnel, or tunnels, between Egypt and Gaza.
If that is not enough to unsettle my nerves, my mail box fills each day with notes from people certain about the power and intentions of Israel’s enemies. Those designated as evil include our near neighbors the Palestinians, other Arabs posing under the label of “moderate,” the sources of all that is bad in Iran and Syria, and the White House of Barack Obama. The common trait of these postings is to turn possibilities into certainties, and to neglect even a casual consideration of how probable it is that each of these threats will become tangible and destructive.
Some of my internet friends send me excerpts from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament that–in their view–predict dire things for Israel, most likely within the next year or two, no matter what we may do to prevent it.
Screeds from the left are no less troubling. Self-appointed guardians of human rights (Israeli and International, Jewish and other) criticize Israeli security forces aggressively, but often not accurately, usually without considering whether the country has a need to defend itself, and almost never comparing Israel’s security actions with those of the United States, Britain, Turkey, or even lesser stalwarts of western values.
One must remain whimsical to prevent madness.
And for today’s portion, we can thank, once again, Rafael Eitan.
Israel has had two Rafael Eitans at the peak of its security and politics. The late Rafael (called Raful) Eitan was head of the IDF general staff, later founder of a right-wing political party (Tsomet: Junction), and served in the Knesset and as Ministers of Agriculture and Environment.
The other Rafael (Rafi) Eitan is still alive and kicking at the age of 85. He has had great achievements and embarrassments in a long career bridging intelligence, international business, domestic politics, and sculpture. He headed the operation that brought Adolf Eichmann to Israel, as well as the operation that put Jonathan Pollard in an American prison. He received an award from the Cuban government for developing a major agricultural enterprise in that country, and headed a prominent Israeli industrial concern.
Rafi accepted the leadership of the perennially unsuccessful pensioners’ party in the run-up to the election of 2006, and rode a wave of support that produced seven seats in the Knesset. Success for the party named Gil (age) did not come because of popular support for the pensioners, but on account of widespread dissatisfaction with the established parties. A movement late in the campaign saw the pensioners as having a chance to get over the threshold for entering the Knesset, and urged people of all ages to vote for it as a protest against others.
Rafi was the only one of the seven new but old Knesset members with name recognition and government experience. Thanks to the party that he nominally headed, he joined the coalition of Ehud Olmert with a newly created, symbolic, and largely unreal position as Minister of Pensioners’ Affairs.
Rafi appeared frequently in the media, looking like a wizened elf but with comments that made sense. But the party called Gil ran out of gas. Its Knesset Members were accused of financial irregularities and sexual harassment, and became more useful as targets of humor than as a vehicle for another popular movement in the election campaign of 2009. As in every other election prior to 2006, the party failed to get enough votes to pass the Knesset threshold.
Rafi has not given up. He is creating another party that will serve pensioners, and plans a press conference to announce the name that he has chosen for it. Broadcasters who report the news are reminding him to select running mates who will keep their trousers as well as their wallets closed in the face of temptations.
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Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University