Requiem for Oslo warrants unity
Isi Leibler - Israel Hayom
The Oslo Accords, which bitterly divided the nation over the past quarter ‎century, are no longer a contentious issue among Israel political leaders.
The late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin personally told ‎me on numerous occasions of his concern that the deal with PLO leader Yasser Arafat, whom he despised ‎as a murderer, was a gamble that Israel had to take to satisfy itself and the world that ‎it had sought every opportunity to achieve peace. ‎
In contrast, Shimon Peres, then foreign minister, in response to a few critical questions I posed ‎in the days after the Oslo announcement, lost his cool, and angrily stated, "They took Entebbe ‎away from me [referring to credit for the 1976 hostage rescue operation in Uganda, when Peres was defense minister], but they will never do the same with the peace process."
Today Peres is ‎possibly the sole remaining senior politician who still maintains that the deal with Arafat and ‎the Palestine Liberation Organization should be retained as the basis for a peace settlement.‎
The consensus recognizing the failure of the Oslo ‎Accords extends beyond right-wing politics and was articulated by the former director general of the Foreign Ministry, Professor ‎Shlomo Avineri, an esteemed intellectual doyen of the Zionist Left. In an article published last ‎October in Haaretz, Avineri enumerated a host of reasons on both sides that contributed to ‎the failure. But overriding these was the fact that the Palestinian position did not consider the ‎conflict as territorial but regarded all of Israel as a colonial implant that has to be uprooted. ‎Avineri concluded that we are obliged to face the reality that there is no way Israel can ‎achieve any mutually acceptable peace agreement in the foreseeable future.‎
His views were echoed by one of the key architects of the Oslo Accords, former minister Yossi ‎Beilin, who, at a recent U.N. Media Seminar, stated explicitly that the Oslo Accords must end. ‎As he said, "Too many Israelis fear that a one-state marriage would destroy either our identity ‎as a Jewish state or our claim to democracy. And a two-state divorce is unlikely to produce a ‎prosperous and stable Palestine." He concluded that the best solution now would be an Israeli-‎Palestinian confederation.‎
The final nail in the coffin of the Oslo Accords was the announcement by the head of Israel's ‎Zionist Union and Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog, who admitted, "I don't see a ‎possibility at the moment of implementing the two-state solution." He told French President ‎Francois Hollande that "we have to be realistic. ... It cannot happen at this time. Hatred and ‎incitement among the Palestinians are just too great."‎
Unsurprisingly, Herzog blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the impasse, but the ‎fact remains that the leader of the Israeli Left has effectively joined the Israeli consensus that ‎believes that under the current circumstances the creation of an independent Palestinian state ‎is not even on the horizon.‎
However, in no way does that imply that there has been any strengthening of support for ‎those calling for annexation of all the territories, who remain a very small proportion of the ‎electorate. Most Israelis recognize that they cannot retain their Jewish identity if they absorb ‎millions of additional Arabs. But in the short term they seek at least to separate themselves ‎from the Palestinians. A small but noisy group of delusional far leftists still consider the ‎duplicitous Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as a peace partner. ‎
But Herzog seems to be attempting to sever connections between Labor Zionism and the post-‎Zionists and anarchists. Indeed, he has shaken up the political community by lurching to the ‎right and calling for extending Sharon's separation barrier to protect the major settlement ‎blocs -- areas that would remain in Israel irrespective of what happens to the Palestinians. ‎Herzog makes it clear that in any future confidence-building initiatives and outreach to the ‎Palestinians, the Israel Defense Forces would of necessity retain control of the West Bank and ‎Jordan Valley.‎
With Herzog on board, there is now a consensus for the major policies toward the Palestinians, ‎extending from the leftist Zionist Union through to Avigdor Lieberman's far-right Yisrael Beytenu.‎
Having attained this consensus, it is simply outrageous that the various political leaders fail to ‎act in the national interest, temporarily set aside their own political ambitions, and unite in the ‎face of the great pressures we face. This is particularly egregious given the dangers we are ‎likely to encounter in the coming months, during U.S. President Barack Obama's remaining ‎term in office.‎
The entire Middle East, apart from Israel, is a bubbling cauldron of barbarism reminiscent of ‎the Dark Ages. At our doorstep, mass murder, executions and massive population ‎displacements are rampant as the Sunnis and Shiites butcher each other. Islamic State now poses a ‎threat throughout the entire world.‎
In his desperation to appease and grovel to the genocidal Iranians, Obama has lifted all ‎sanctions, and they will now be receiving in excess of $150 billion, much of which U.S. ‎Secretary of State John Kerry concedes will be used to intensify Iran's global terror operations and ‎plans to wipe Israel off the map.‎
Europe is in chaos and the impact of millions of Muslim refugees will further destabilize the ‎continent and intensify the record high levels of anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, this has not diverted ‎the European Union from furthering its biased and selective harassment of Israel.‎
At such a time, one would have expected the U.S. to support or use its influence to defend its ‎long-standing ally. However, while presidents in their last year in office are usually lame ducks, ‎it seems clear that Obama is determined to continue pressuring Israel and will use the ‎Europeans to do likewise. There are even hints that the U.S. may abandon us at the U.N. by ‎refrain from a veto, enabling the Security Council to pass resolutions pressing Israel to return ‎to the indefensible 1949 armistice lines. ‎
When American Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro accuses Israel of adhering to "two ‎standards of law" in the West Bank -- one for Israelis and one for Palestinians -- and criticizes ‎the failure of Israel to adequately control Jewish terrorism, claiming that "too much vigilantism ‎goes unchecked," it sends clear signals that we should gird ourselves for further onslaughts ‎from the U.S. administration.‎
It is unprecedented for the U.S. to publicly besmirch an ally in this manner. Shapiro disregards ‎our government's implementation of the tough policy of treating Jewish extremist suspects in ‎a similar manner to Arab terrorists. Such statements ignore the Palestinian religious fanatics ‎who are incited daily to kill Jews and be rewarded with Paradise. It was utterly insensitive of ‎Shapiro to make such utterances the day after a mother of six was murdered in her home ‎and on the day a pregnant woman was stabbed.‎
This wretchedly biased condemnation of Israel took place as Obama outraged the traditional ‎allies of the U.S. by groveling toward the Iranians, the foremost global sponsors of terrorism, ‎who displayed their disdain for him by reiterating their contempt for the U.S. and publicly ‎humiliating American sailors they claimed had trespassed into their waters.‎
The outburst by Shapiro has to be viewed within the context of an impending new ‎European onslaught against Israel. ‎
One of the strongest weapons to deter Obama from throwing us to the wolves would be the ‎formation of a unity government. This would refute the myth that the fault lies with an ‎extreme right-wing Israeli government and undermine the reasoning that justifies pressuring ‎such a government to make unilateral concessions. It would strengthen the American people's ‎support for Israel and would perhaps shake up and bring on board the Jewish communal ‎leadership whose shameful silence in the face of some of the U.S. statements besmirching ‎Israel has been deafening.‎
Netanyahu, Herzog, Lieberman and Yair Lapid should get off their high horses, work in ‎the national interest, and agree to form a unity government. The people of Israel are entitled to ‎this during these trying times of mounting global hostility. If they have any sense of ‎responsibility, our leaders should ask themselves how history will judge them if they fail to rise ‎to this occasion. ‎