Yeah, I’m late to the party, but one of the biggest arts of diplomacy is the art of tact and signals. Throwing out a statement on housing in the midst of a sensitive point where negotiations are beginning is like throwing a match into kindling. Do it enough times and it’s all going to go up in flames. You can argue that it’s part of the diplomacy, but I think it was timed to cause the maximum damage to the Obama administration and the potential peace talks by the radical right wing elements in the Israeli administration.
The simple fact it, it’s going to take *years* for any real peace to take hold in Palestine. and I hate to say it, but there’s a strong investment in some aspects of the far right in Israel and also a chunk of Palestinians to ensure that Israel remains in a state of war with the Palestinians the more radicalized they can keep things, the more they can justify their own radical policies and beliefs. Of course, this is at best a dangerous dangerous game to play, and at worst, insane for Israel, because Israel already has enough enemies out there that want to eradicate their country. Usually you want people around you who don’t want you dead. IE. Egypt and Jordan, while their population is not supportive of Israel by any stretch, they’ve also enjoyed decades of peace, and more importantly, their governments have no desire to deal with the destabilization that would come with conflict.
Just as you can’t have Palestinians indoctrinating their children to hate Israel, you can’t have Israelis running around with T-shirts of a pregnant Palestinian woman in a gun sight with the caption, “One Shot Two Kills.” The Palestinian people (along with foreign proxies) have been guilty of radicalizing and being turned into fanatical haters who are willing to die for years, it’s disheartening to see the Israeli people begin their own radicalizing, because it becomes a cycle that feeds and feeds until there is nothing left of rational thought, just hate.
Turning to the peace process itself with the Palestinians: the lack of a coherent strong government in Palestine is hamstringing the peace process. having areas with no governing authority simply leads to lawless enclaves that are lead by whatever local thug wants to take power. Particularly, it enables foreign powers to finance groups and continue to work against Israel via proxies. Unfortunately in order for a strong government to take hold, Israel must accept some risk that the government will also be hostile to Israel. However, I think the risk of an overtly hostile government is smaller than people would realize. Because oftentimes, when a government has power, their first desire is to ensure they keep power, and you keep power by improving life, not by making it worse for everyone.
There’s always a chance that this general idea won’t hold true and a Palestinian government will be totally fanatical and radical and be a nightmare war situation for Israel. But I kinda doubt it.
This isn’t to say that all Israel has to do is play nice and things will get better. That’s not the point of this post: the situation over there is incredibly complex, more so than simply that Israel can do no wrong or is never at fault. more complex than simply saying that every other country is wrong and the Palestinians all need to die.
It also needs to be remember that Israel is run by people who have their own agenda which is not always going to match up with what the United States wants. And despite the best desire to consider Israel to be our BFF, Events dictate that Israel will put their interests first, just as the US must be prepared to put theirs first.
And who knows, smarter people than I have worked on this for years. So if you want to take my thoughts as musings that have no basis in reality, I’m ok with that. it’s quite possible I have no clue what I’m talking about, but if someone has a better take, feel free to respond. I’ll be happy to listen.
Tags: Gaza, World Events, bloodstar by bloodstar
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