Has the time come for Israel to listen to the world's opinion over its settlements and Palestinian policy?
The fluid situation in north Africa, and the very dangerous situation to its north in Syria and possibly Lebanon have somewhat distracted public attention from a problem that needs solving just as much as does the civil war in Syria.
For decades, the world has stood by, allowing Israel to hem and haw on the Palestinian question, but time might be running out.
More and more foreign countries are tired of the back and forth, and the money spent trying to resolve the problem diplomatically. Some countries have even called for sanctions. But a new push from Germany might be the most significant move so far to make Israel more accountable of its policies.
Next week, Angela Merkel and 15 of her ministers will meet for the highest level talks ever conducted on the matter, in preparations for the celebration of the 50 year anniversary of German-Israeli diplomatic relations.
However, Merkel has a tough job to do. Only 14% of Germans agree with Israel's policies, and some say that's a generous estimate. That kind of negative sentiment does not translate well to diplomatic efforts. The German's negative view of Israel's policies towards the Palestinians have been played down for a long time, because Germans feel weary of manifesting their feelings, due to the history of the third Reich. But things have degenerated enough, that not just Germany, but the whole of the EU is seeking answers and has vented concerns about the human rights violatiosn implicit in the abysmal conditions in which millions of Palestinians live in the Gaza strip and the expropriations in the West Bank.
And Merkel is apparently, if not overtly, secretly listening very carefully to her constituents. There are reports that the rapport between Netanyahu and Merkel have all but been broken. Reports of the degeneation between the two tell of shouting phone matches and other evident signs of impatience.
Even though the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is pressing, Merkel is even more concerned with the continued and brutal repossession of land for settlements in the West Bank. In many cases, Israeli military expropriate land that has been deemed part of the West bank from people that have lived there for decades or centuries, and continue to push inward to create pockets of land for new Israeli settlements. Furthermore, every time an agreement is reached on one settlement to stop or stall the construction, Netanyahu finds another area in which to begin settlements that is outside the zone covered by the agreement.
This cat and mouse game, beloved by the ultra orthodox in Israel, but disliked by a section of the Israeli population for its brutality, is also fraying the nerves of those countries that are constantly operating to stop the settlements and reach a peace accord.
The truth of the matter is that the cat and mouse game on the settlements in the West Bank has more to do with the question of lasting peace than just territorial disputes. Without a stop to the settlements and a stronger focus on the peace process, the world is left with the impression that Netanyahu has absolutely no intention of reaching a lasting peace, let alone entertain the thought of abandoning the settlement projects.
Fot its part, Israel blames the Palestinians for the failed peace process. But that's getting old. This is no longer a blame game. With Syria's conflict out of control, and Egypt retrenching into military rule, Israel feels it doesn't have to address the settlement question.
There is such a tone deaf reception on the part of the Israeli, that a recent visit to the Knesset by Martin Shulz, the EU Parliament President, where he asked why the water was unequally avaialable to the Israeli population versus the Palestinians, provoked such anger in the right wing members, that they stormed out of the Parliament in anger.
Germany however, does have a truck in this. It is Israel's third largest trading partner. Israel made no bones about the impact on Israel's economy if relations between the two countries deteriorated. But it is Germany's advantage, not Israel's. One needs the other and not vice-versa. Israel however, has already rebutted such warnings with another tone deaf assessment that would see Germany lose out if trade was to be halted between the two. It this kind of stubbornness and defiance which has allowed Israel to survive in the first decades, but which threatens to undermine it now that such inflexibility is no longer essential to their survival.
So far, Germany has always favored Israel and passed policies that were pro-Israel. But things may change. As history fades, the European Community might not be so shy about asking Israel to comply with basic human rights laws, and to stop its shadow game.
It seems then, that the Israeli have lost their sense of vision, and their touch with the realities of a new millennium in this very dangerous time. It thinks it can just carry on, an island within a sea of stormy waters, untouched.
But in so doing, Israel has left much of the good will and sympathy from its neighbors and the world behind. And they seem just as comfortable with that, as they are about the negative feelings that are increasingly growing in the new generation. But can Israel truly afford to continue on this path?
Op-Ed
Source : Deutsche Welle/ 2.23.14
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