Isseroff; “The real deal killers are internal politics”

Giving Peace a chance?
By Ami Isseroff, Mid-East Web

[..] The real deal killers are internal politics. Neither Olmert nor Abbas are strong enough leaders to make the concessions needed for peace. Olmert has not even been able to fulfill Israel’s obligations to remove outposts. It is doubtful that Olmert could make even a symbolic concession such as a moratorium on settlements suggested by Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi Foreign Minister. It appears that in the coming days, the settler movement will attempt to erect more illegal outposts in “honor” of the Sukkoth holiday. These will be duly removed by the government, with the accompanying and inevitable decline in Olmert’s already precarious popularity. That is the real point of the exercise.

[Remember, this is a view from the Left, one that I agree with.]

Olmert’s support base does not come from the Israeli left, which is more or less nonexistent. He can gain popularity only by hawkish moves, such as the “alleged” Israeli air strike in Syria. Very probably it was one of those operations that would have been approved by a Prime Minister of any persuasion, but, as in the case of the attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor, the party in power gains support. If the operation succeeds, which apparently it did, the soldiers and pilots did the work and the government gets the credit. Menachem Begin could make peace with Egypt and cede the entire Sinai peninsula, because the Israeli right had no realistic political alternative to the Likud at the time. The only alternative was the Labor party, which would certainly have made peace as well. Olmert, on the other hand, has Benjamin Netanyahu on his right, ready to oppose any concessions.

Concessions to the Palestinians cannot possibly garner any support for Olmert’s government. Even if there were to by an ideal peace deal, the government that gives up land in “Judea and Samaria” — not to mention Jerusalem — has a slim chance of survival. This also explains the mystery of why Israel cannot remove the outposts, even though they serve no security purpose. Removing them imperils the government. Like disengagement, it creates a burning scar that the right can use to garner support, especially if the aftermath is more Palestinian violence.

One commentator who does not betray much understanding of the Middle East warns that Hamas and Fatah will eventually reconcile, so therefore Israel must hurry to make peace with Abbas. As long as there is no Palestinian unity, Abbas really has nothing to offer. If Hamas and Fatah ever reconcile there are two possibilities. Either (an unlikely possibility) Hamas has really accepted peace, or else the combined “unity” government will have a platform that precludes peace. For Israel, the only risky situation, that would force a peace treaty, is a Palestinian government that is clearly for peace and also has the organizational strength to enforce the peace. This would create an irresistible moral case. International pressure would force an Israeli withdrawal, despite internal Israeli opposition. The “tough” Palestinian government that this commentator envisages would only have the “power” to do what Hamas is doing and what Arafat did before them: to demonstrate to even moderate Israelis that concessions are pointless because they won’t bring peace, and to demonstrate to the world that the Palestinians are manifestly incapable of self government.

Analogously, Abbas’s moderate stance, which is supposedly a great advantage, makes him vulnerable, since more hawkish opponents within the PLO such as Marwan Barghouti and others are waiting to pounce on any deal that Abbas can get, and say it is not good enough. It is very hard to imagine a Palestinian government that could give up the “right” of return of the refugees or Palestinian sovereignty over any part of East Jerusalem, and still stay in power, no matter what the Palestinians got as a state. Potential opposition can offer the Palestinians a vision of “greater Palestine” from the river to the sea. Unless the more extreme Palestinian political parties take up the cause of peace, Abbas is going to find it impossible to get a deal from the Israelis that would compete with that.

Finally, considering who Dov Weisglass is, after all, Palestinians might be forgiven for thinking that if he says it is a good time to make peace, it must be the absolutely worst time to make peace from the Palestinian point of view.

September 28, 2007 | 1 Comment »

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7 Comments / 1 Comment

  1. palworthy and friend?

    Nature has seems to provide every species with the mechanism for self perpetuation and survival except man. I used to have a pet ant I called Rex because he was so aggressive and one day I accidentally stepped on him and ended his short but eventful life.

    How I would love to replicate the same act with some crypto Humans, who when it comes to the basic instinct for survival take a second place next to my old long gone pet….. REX!.

  2. Ask yourselves if Obama was white and Jewish,would you dare arguing in this manner.

    Comment by palworthy — November 27, 2008 @ 10:21 pm

    Answer: yes, likely even more so.

    The only conclusion that I can arrive at is that you are all a bunch of rascist schmucks.

    On the contrary. The shmuck is up the other ass. That would be yours. You’re a backwards self-loathing bigot. You are an anti-anything-not-black racist. “Smoke on your pipe and put that in!”

  3. The election is long over. No one in their right mind would even suggest that it be repeated. Obama won fair and square. There are so many problems in the world today that require fixing, why dwell on the past!

    Ask yourselves if Obama was white and Jewish,would you dare arguing in this manner. The only conclusion that I can arrive at is that you are all a bunch of rascist schmucks.

  4. A depressing read, particularly if you follow the links to those sites where Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Atheists are joining forces to enable stealth Jihad and Sharia under the guise of multiculturalism, universal brotherhood, and peace. Exhibit A: Cordoba Initiative.

    The peace of the pod.

  5. 2 points:
    1) it ain’t over: the obambi citizenslip case has yet to go before the supremes.

    2) excellent observation re black voters and america. the majority of blacks voted not what was best for the country or the world, but what they incorrectly saw as their self interest. which they incorrectly see as best for others or don’t care. where are the black republicans? where are the black people, like rev manning, who see the truth about this ruse? this whole episode in our history epitomizes the conflict between appearance and reality.

    “American blacks act in their racial group’s interest, nullify what they consider white people’ laws when serving in juries, and vote for black candidates, including convicted felons, irrespective of their merit. They have no compunction about using Pod (1) society’s soft social policies to live at the expense of the white taxpayer, nor to engage in electoral fraud in order to gain more power.

    During the 2008 election, stories about black electoral fraud were a daily feature in the few media that are still not sworn tools of the left. That ranged from bums registered by ACORN each 72 times as voters, to Helen Jones-Kelley, a black lawyer and high Ohio government official who misused the state’s computer system to find sensitive information about a famous McCain supporter and to mobilize potential donors to the Obama campaign.”

    the question is: what will it take, or how can we, clarify the truth here so the american people will act for america (credit: brigitte gabriel) and not for a distorted and false view of their self interest.

  6. Ted even if Isseroff is your friend, he is the archtypical Israeli Leftist yuppy, which as a Type I dispise. It is Isseroff and his like that have placed Israel in its precarious position today, and demoralized the IDF, corrupted the IDF leadership and made Israel into a combination of Columbia SA, and California, with a little authentic oriental Kasbah to keep them honest.
    As a PEACE believer Isseroff and his Commie friends have supported OSLO which put Israel on the road if not destruction than much unneeded pain and grief. I accuse all supporters of Oslo of being directly complicit in the murders and maiming of thousands of Israelis since the OSLO Accords! His and the lefts inability to face realities, have not made them any smarter since; in fact that they are still seeking PEACE with the Arabs prove they are either totally stupid, morally decadent, intellectually dishonest, anti democratic,and criminal by subverting the political and judicial systems to favor them over a clear majority in opposition. ( FOR THE ISSEROFFS OF ISRAEL THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS).

    He says naught about how the left subverted the System to get Oslo passed by 1 vote and that they bought literally,
    votes from the opposition to get Oslo Passed. he does not mention that the Jewish majority was subverted by coopting the Arabs in Knesset to vote for Oslo. He does not make mention of almost every negative warning of the right has since come to pass. He conversely cannot point to anything positive, that has resulted from the failed Leftist commie visions that they forced down our throats.

    He bemoans the fact that the left has disappeared,but makes no mention of the ideological lefts control of all the institutions of govt, and culture, academia, and media. Even Promotion in the IDF is largely based of conforming to the lefts world view. I do agree with his implied description of Dubi Weisglass as not one of his guys, Weissglas is neither right nor left JUST A SELF INTERESTED CROOK.

    Isseroff goes on and on with the ins and outs of the virtual political and negotiating process and I almost felt a bit sorry for him in his inability to come to grips and come right out and say that there can be no peace process between the current players and maybe not ever (praise g-d) I propose that he offer His kibbutz instead of Jerusalem as it was taken from the arabs back in 48/49. Oh how they are so holyier than thou when it is someone else who will pay the price for their insidious political games. They scream bloody murder if it is ever laid on their own doorsteps.. By the way of what security benefit to the state of Israel was there ever for the string of Kibbutzim along the northern border or the Jordan valley or the western negev? The Ans, is that where there are Jews there is the IDF to protect them thereby creating by physical presence and strength of arms facts on the ground that later or hopefully become facts period. This is what Zionism was and in some quarters here is still all about. In America we called it nation building. America had her Native Americans we have the Arabs with one major difference the Arabs stole and then squatted on our land and not the other way around. If Isseroff cannot accept this position then in the final analysis he has no sustainable position for being here.

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