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Neither the horror of history nor the
arrogance of power can justify Israel in what it is doing in both
Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories. The political leadership in
Israel has miserably failed in seeking a long lasting political solution
to the conflict that is based on justice and respect for human rights.
Instead it has relied on military strategists with a formidable and
merciless military machine to prepare the ground for an eventual
political solution that would impose a Pax Israeleana in the region. But
the prospects of Pax Israeleana cannot be realized without the weight of
the US Administration. This weight, as is increasingly evident, has
continuously been eroded by ill advised wars in Iraq and elsewhere. The
ongoing Lebanon war, irrespective of its outcome, has dealt yet another
blow to the credibility of the American Administration.
The reliance on brute force to achieve convenient political results
often leads politicians and militarists to go back to the drawing boards
after the dust of war settles. Lessons learned are strictly of a
military nature: how best to counter the tactics of the adversary
guerrilla forces; to finish off with them in the quickest manner; to
ensure that one’s forces and ingeniously adapted new military tactics
would surprise the enemy. Israel has learned from its military history
that the best wars are those won in less than 7 days. Then Israel and
its politicians would rest without need for a serious political process
to resolve long standing conflict with its neighbors. The military
superiority would ensure that the advantageous status quo would always
remain in Israel’s favor.
When one looks at Israel’s history, one is reminded of the messages that
the late Foreign Minister of Israel, Abba Eban, used to broadcast in
Arabic in the fifties on the eve of independence day urging Arabs to
come to the peace table and signaling that Israeli politicians would go
anywhere in the world to negotiate peace with their neighbors. Today,
Israeli politicians are not concerned about peace or about negotiations.
They lack the leadership element at a time when more than a dozen Arab
countries have diplomatic and informal relations with the Jewish state.
Or is it because of these relations that Israeli politicians do not care
about genuine peace negotiations confident that all Arab states and
politicians will eventually follow suit in normalizing relations with
Israel without having Israel to pay any price for that?
The US Administration and Israeli image not simply in the Arab world but
throughout the world has suffered tremendously. This image will come out
even more tarnished than ever before when the war of Lebanon subsides.
Likewise without a permanent just solution to the conflict between
Israel and the Palestinians, the US Administration and Israel
politicians will remain in the minority when it comes to international
decency, legitimacy and fairness. Much needs to be done by US
Administration officials and by Israeli politicians to prove to the
world that they are ready to subscribe to rules of international decency
and legitimacy. Whether they will be able to successfully undertake this
most challenging task remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Israel
is in need of a politician of the De Gaulle caliber but this is wishful
thinking if one considers the present political establishment in Israel.
The US Administration is in need to wake up but there is doubt that the
present Administration will be able to forego its long slumber.
Accordingly, the region will continue to be in political limbo and all
of us will continue to pay the price, including those who believe in Tel
Aviv and Washington that brute force will advance their political views
and visions for the future of this region.
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