Israel’s true friends should break their silence, speak out and save Israel from itself before it is too late.
By YARIV OPPENHEIMERBreaking the construction record: The city of Ariel in Samaria, January 17(photo credit: Courtesy)
Ever since his re-election last year, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said, publicly and privately, that he is ready to make history. If he could just sit down with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas behind closed doors, he would surprise the world.Many Israelis, including members of the peace camp, thought that perhaps something fundamental had changed, and that with the help of a committed American administration, Netanyahu might be ready to make real progress towards peace. According to his rhetoric, the prime minister seemed to understand the dangers inherent in the status quo, and the fear of Israel becoming a bi-national or semi-apartheid state.However, after nine months of fruitless diplomatic efforts, it is now obvious that nothing has changed. Actually, almost nothing. From day one, the Netanyahu government did everything in its power to change the situation on the ground in the West Bank and dramatically increased construction in the Jewish settlements over the Green Line, deep into what was supposed to become the future Palestinian state.According to Peace Now’s Settlements Watch data, as the negotiations continued, the current government broke a 10-year record: at least 13,851 housing units were promoted in the settlements, including tenders for 4,868 units (four times the annual average over the last decade) and 8,983 units in planning stages in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.All of these actions are, in fact, unilateral steps that the current government is taking in order to torpedo any chance of a two-state solution.Netanyahu’s real legacy as prime minister will not be his 2009 Bar-Ilan University speech about the need for two states, but thousands of housing units in the West Bank, alongside a few pictures of him with US Secretary of State John Kerry missing one of the best chances of bringing peace to Israel.In order to understand Netanyahu’s real intentions, we need to look at his actions, not just his speeches and, from this point of view, the prospects for the two-state solution are not very promising. Now, after the masks have fallen, it is clear the current government will not be ready to take any step toward peace simply out of goodwill. The only way to get it to change course will be through pressure, both domestic and international.Domestically, only if Netanyahu feels that his popularity is plummeting or that his government is on the verge of collapse, he might be ready to reconsider. The ball is in the hands of the relatively dovish leaders of Yesh Atid and Hatnua, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. As long as they remain ensconced in the current government as fig leaves for Netanyahu, nothing will change. But if they bolt, or threaten to bolt, they might be able to influence future government policy.The political balance could also change if Israel gets a clear message from the international community, especially from its friends, about the wrong path it is taking. Sometimes, at critical junctures, people or countries need friendly but firm guidance. Israel is at precisely such a point in its history.Israel’s true friends should break their silence, speak out and save Israel from itself before it is too late. Yariv Oppenheimer is the director of Peace Now, a movement dedicated to peace with the Palestinians, and which monitors settlement building
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