Despite his surprising re-election for a fourth term as the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is still in the midst of a loud outcry over his outrageous pronouncements on the eve of the election — a development that is likely to char his tenure. He then categorically dismissed the new Arab-Israeli members of the Knesset in despicable racist terms and at the same time abandoned his earlier support for a Palestinian state on a small portion of historic Palestine, a former British mandate until 1948.
The Israeli leader had warned his public that the Arab voters were going to the polls “in droves”, an assertion widely interpreted, according to the New York Times, “as an attempt to suppress the Arab vote” and an attempt to prompt more Jewish voters to participate in the polls since he was seemingly in a tight spot. In another pre-election statement, Netanyahu declared that there would be no Palestinian state on his watch, a position that was obviously directed at Right-wing Israeli voters.
After his victory, though, Netanyahu backtracked, claiming that he was misunderstood. He invited a group of Arab voters to his house, a meeting that was aired on television; and also said that his position on a Palestinian state was misinterpreted, asserting that he was still supportive of a two-state solution, but was concerned about the timing and offered no explanations.
Netanyahu’s offensive remarks outraged US President Barack Obama whose relationship with the Israeli leader has never been warm — in fact “toxic”, as described by the New York Times. In a videotaped interview with the Huffington Post, Obama said: “I indicated to him that given his statements prior to the election, it is going to be hard to find a path where people are seriously believing that negotiations are possible.”
But it took a top aide of the president, White House Chief-of-Staff, Denis McDonough, a Catholic, to spill the beans at last Monday’s conference in Washington of the liberal American Jewish organisation called J Street, which is often critical of Netanyahu and supports “an end to occupation (and) for a two-state solution” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Its president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, believes “it’s time for the United States to restate the view it has always had that settlements are illegal, and it’s time to give action to words”.
McDonough told an audience of 3,000 J Street members: “In the end, we know what a peace agreement should look like. The borders of Israel and an independent Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps ... An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end and the Palestinian people must have the right to live in and govern themselves in their own sovereign state ... Israel cannot maintain military control of people indefinitely. That’s the truth. And as Obama has said, neither occupation nor expulsion of Palestinians is the answer. Anything less than true peace will only worsen the situation ... That’s why we’re never going to give up on peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
But another speaker at the conference, former US secretary of state James Baker, declared that the chances of a two-state solution were diminished since Netanyahu’s re-election last week. He further criticised Netanyahu’s “diplomatic missteps and political gamesmanship”, saying the prime minister’s “actions have not matched his rhetoric,” according to Politico magazine.
A surprise participant at the J Street conference was Saeb Erekat, the top Palestinian negotiator, who seemed to welcome that the Obama administration was to change its stance towards a United Nations role in settling the Palestinian Question. He explained that the Palestinian National Authority has decided to approach the US because the Israeli prime minister was not “a two stater”. His address was enthusiastically received at the conference, especially his line, “Occupation corrupts. We have to stand tall to end this occupation” — a line that was met with a standing ovation.
All that remains for Netanyahu to do now is to stand up and be counted, explaining truthfully his position vis-a-vis the Palestinian-Israeli conflict — something he has never spelled out, unlike the Palestinian side and all the members of the Arab League when they initiated the Arab Peace Initiative in 2002.
George S. Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com
