A biweekly feature of news and opinion pieces from the Israeli and Palestinian press.
1.) Salam Fayyad, the West Bank’s Palestinian prime minister, has conducted a very interesting interview with an Israeli journalist. Fayyad is a Western-educated economist who is widely respected by the United States and other international players. He is considered highly pragmatic, and has established a good working relationship with the Bush administration. (After a successful meeting with President Bush in Washington last month, for example, there has been an uptick in American pressure against Israel.) In the interview, Fayyad notes that he is “vehemently against the rocket attacks on Israel” and he also acknowledged Palestinian failures to establish order in Gaza. But Fayyad was also quick to criticize Israel for undermining his efforts to establish a viable central government in the West Bank:
“The approach that Israel must stay in the territories if it is to protect its security will lead to our never arriving at security capability. How can I be responsible for security when every other day an Israeli army jeep blocks a street in the heart of Ramallah and checks the passersby, or when the army decides to raid money changers? Are money changers ticking bombs?…Operations like that, raids in Jenin, undermine our credibility and capability. After Israeli soldiers beat up Palestinian policemen in Bethlehem, how are our people supposed to stand on their legs?”
2.) Prominent Israeli analyst Daniel Levy, reacting to Salam Fayyad’s recent interview, argues that the Palestinian prime minister’s style of governance is a breath of a fresh air. He notes that Fayyad is trying to chart a “different course” from prior Palestinian leaders.
In my own conversations with Fayyad he has struck me as someone who does have a vision and a Palestinian strategy. The center-piece of that strategy is that a Palestinian government must do what it can to advance Palestinian state-building—almost irrespective of anything the Israeli side might be doing to undermine that. It’s a kind of Palestinian version of “ask not what others can do for us, but what we can do for ourselves”. The Palestinian excuses for inaction will always be there—and will often be justified—but the alternatives are armed resistance (not Fayyad’s cup of tea) or paralysis. Fayyad prefers his own version of ‘summud’—steadfastness—to, despite everything, run a government, schools, hospitals, make plans, have a transparent budget…etc.
3.) Yoel Marcus, writing in Haaretz, argues that the time is ripe for Israel to pursue a peace deal with Syria. He notes that Israel’s treaties with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994) have brought it long-lasting security. Furthermore, Marcus suggests, Syria is increasingly isolated in the region and would be highly susceptible to Israeli offers.
At a time when ill winds seem to be blowing from the north, the possibility of bringing Syria into the circle of peace is a particularly calming prospect. According to Meridor, Syria has lost its luster in the eyes of its Arab neighbors. Since the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, the moderate Islamic countries, worried that the international tribunal in the Hague will find Bashar Assad guilty, have been giving Syria the cold shoulder. When foreign sources reported that a Syrian installation had been blown up by Israel, wonder of wonders, no Arab country seemed to have a problem with that.
Given Syria’s current state of isolation, with its Arab brothers in a huff and a boycott imposed on it by America, the time is ripe for Israel to invite it to join the good guys and urge the Bush administration, or the next one in line, to support an initiative for dialogue between the two countries.
…An agreement with Syria would strategically change the picture in this region: It would isolate Iran, neutralize the headquarters of the terrorist organizations and strengthen the moderate Islamic regimes. Unlike the Palestinian leadership at the moment, the Syrians, in their bid for international acceptance, are capable of delivering the goods. But only if Israel realizes that secure and recognized borders come with a price tag, a hefty one, but worth it for peace – the Golan Heights.
4.) Due to high birthrates, Arabs will “account for one out of every four citizens” in Israel by 2030, according to a recent study by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.
5.) The debate continues to rage in the Israeli press about the desirability of the various American presidential candidates. In a Ynet News op-ed, Sever Plocker argues that although Obama isn’t an overt anti-Semite, he grew up in an “environment that is hostile to Jews and to Israel.” Referencing the statements of Reverend Wright, Plocker suggests that American Jews are failing to take seriously the subtle and divisive influence of Obama’s pastor. Meanwhile, Haaretz correspondent Shmuel Rosner downplays recent concerns that Obama’s national campaign co-chairman, Merrill “Tony” McPeak, is hostile towards Israel.