Since the end of Operation Cast Lead, there have been calls for Israeli officers to be tried for war crimes, dozens of cities have hosted “Israel Apartheid Week“; Israel’s sports teams suffered violent protests abroad and Venezuela, Bolivia and Mauritania cut diplomatic ties. It seems that Israel’s status in the international arena has reached a low point.
At the same time, there is an increasing concern in Brussels and Washington that the new Israeli government will withdraw from its commitment to the Two State Solution. Javier Solana recently said the EU might reconsider its relationship with Israel while the dispute between the US and Israel over the razing of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem may be only the first serious disagreement between the US and the new Israeli government.
This combination between growing criticism over Israel’s policies and the potential of Israel being catalogued as “rejectionist” puts the country on the path towards collision with the international community.
In this context, Reut is currently concluding a document which presents dilemmas of the political process and offers potential parameters for developing a clear and viable political strategy for Israel.
Our working assumption is that Israel must present its own political initiative in order to lead, rather than be led by the political reality. This may be the only way to prevent the deterioration of the country’s international status and it becoming entrenched in the ‘rejectionist camp.’
General
Amit Granek
Yuval Holtzmann
Ronit Gudes
Gidi Grinstein
Gaddy Weissman
Calev Ben Dor
Yossi Horesh
Dana Preisler
Omri Dagan
Eran Shayshon
Liran Bainvol
Merav Pick
Noa Ecker
Netaly Ophir
Yariv Mann
Reut Institute
Omri Zegen
Yael Weisz
Toni Hasson
Talia Gorodess
Gil Murciano
Anat Horowitz
Abed Assli
Daphna Kaufman
Shay Gurion
Elad Leshem
Aliza Petrack
Jessica Brandt
Yael Brendel
Martin Ben Moreh
yotamhacohen
Jeremy Fischer
Eden Gallanter
To take the “political initiative” Israel must devote more energy and thought to exposing the exploitation of the Palestinian people by their own leadership and advocates.
Larceny, tyranny, and social and physical abuse by Hamas and its supporters should be documented in fiscal, statistical, and descriptive detail and distributed relentlessly and pervasively by all available media to all parts of the world.
Hamas still enjoys the aura of a socially supportive organization.
The Left in Europe and America must be deprived of that illusion
Once Hamas is fully exposed, Israel’s support of the Palestinian Authority will attain more credibility as a program of liberation and not merely an exercise in puppetry.